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THE PRIMARY FACTORS OF 
ORGANIC EVOLUTION 


THE PRIMARY FACTORS 


Qa“ 


ORGANIC EVOLUTION 


BY 


E. D. COPE, PH. D. 


MEMBER OF THE U. S., NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES; PROFESSOR 
OF ZOOLOGY AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY IN THE 
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 


CHICAGO 


THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING COMPANY 
(LONDON: 17 Jounson’s Court, FLEET St., E. C.) 


1904 


(® JH4 07 


Tue Open Court PUBLISHING Co, 
CHICAGO, ILL., 1896. 


The Lakeside Press 
KK. K. DONNELLEY & SONS CO., CHICAGO. 


PREFACE. 


HE present book is an attempt to select from the mass of 
facts accumulated by biologists, those which, in the author's 
opinion, throw a clear light on the problem of organic evolution, 
and especially that of the animal kingdom. As the actual lines of 
descent can be finally demonstrated chiefly from paleontologic re- 
search, I have drawn a large part of my evidence from this source. 
Of course, the restriction imposed by limited space has compelled 
the omission of a great many facts which have an important bear- 
ing on the problem. I have preferred the paleontologic evidence 
for another reason. Darwin and the writers of his immediate 
school have drawn most of their evidence from facts which are 
embraced in the science of cecology. Weismann and writers of 
his type draw most of their evidence from the facts of embryology. 
The mass of facts recently brought to light in the field of paleon- 
tology, especially in the United States, remained to be presented, 
and the evidence they contain interwoven with that derived from 
the sources mentioned. 

Many of the zodlogists of this country, in common with many 
of those of other nations, have found reason for believing that the 
factors of evolution which were first clearly formulated by La- 
marck, are really such. This view is taken in the following pages, 
and the book may be regarded as containing a plea on their behalf. 
In other words, the argument is constructive and not destructive. 
The attempt is made to show what we know, rather than what we 
do not know. This is proper at this time, since, in my opinion, a 
certain amount of evidence has accumulated to demonstrate the 
doctrine here defended, and which I have defended as a working 
hypothesis for twenty-five years. 

In the following pages I have cited many authors who have 
contributed to the result, but it has been impossible to cite all who 


vi PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


have written on one part or another of the subject. If some very 

meritorious. essays have not been cited, it has been generally be- 

cause I have confined myself to those in which facts or doctrines 

were first presented, and have not had so much occasion to refer to 
‘ those of later date. 

Mr. Romanes, in his posthumous book, Volume II. of his Dar- 
win, and After Darwin on Post-Darwinian Questions, expresses 
the following opinion of the position which has been taken by the 
Neo-Lamarckians of this country. He says that they do not dis- 
tinguish between the ‘‘statement of facts in terms of a proposition, 
and an explanation of them in terms of causality.” Had Mr. Ro- 
manes been acquainted with the literature of the subject published 
in America and elsewhere during the last three years, he would 
have had reason to change this view of the case. I think he would 
have found in it demonstration ‘‘in terms of causality."’ 

At the outset it must be stated that a knowledge of the history 
of organic evolution rests primarily on the science of morphology, 
and secondarily on the kinematics of the growth of organic struc- 
tures. The phenomenon to be explained is the genealogical suc- 
cession, or phylogeny of organisms ; and the access to this subject 
is through the sciences of paleontology and embryology. The phe- 
nomena of the functioning of the organism, or physiology, are only 
incidentally referred to, as not the real object of inquiry. Since 
organic species are much more numerous than the tissues of which 
they are composed, organogenesis must claim attention more largely 
than histogenesis. It is true that histogenesis is fundamental, but 
it is a science as yet in its early infancy, and little space can be 
given to it. The exact ow of organic evolution will never be 
finally solved, however, until our knowledge of histogenesis is com- 
plete. ; 

The research depicted in the following pages has proceeded on 
the assumption that every variation in the characteristics of organic 
beings, however slight, has a direct efficient cause. This assump- 
tion is sustained by all rational and philosophical considerations. 
Any theory of evolution which omits the explanation of the causes 
of variations is faulty at the basis. Hence the theory of selection 
cannot answer the question which we seek to solve, although it 
embraces an important factor in the production of the general re- 
sult of evolution. 

In the search for the factors of evolution, we must have first a 
knowledge of the course of evolution. This can only be obtained 


PREFACE, vii 


in a final and positive form by investigation of the succession of 
life. The record of this succession is contained in the sedimentary 
deposits of the earth's crust, and is necessarily imperfect. Advance 
in knowledge in this direction has, however, been very great of re- 
cent years, so that some parts of the genealogical tree are tolerably 
or quite complete. We hope reasonably for continued progress in 
this direction, and if the future is to be judged of by the past, the 
number of gaps in our knowledge will be greatly lessened. In the 
absence of the paleontologic record, we necessarily rely on the em- 
bryologic, which contains a recapitulation of it. The imperfections 
of the embryonic record are, however, great, and this record differs 
from the paleontologic in that no future discovery in embryology 
can correct its irregularities. On the contrary every paleontologic 
discovery is an addition to positive genealogy. If the present work 
has any merit, it is derived from the fact that the basis of the argu- 
ment is the paleontologic record. 


E. D. Cope. 
PuHILapELpuHIA, November 1, 1895. 


~ 


CONTENTS. 
PAGE 
PREFACE 5 RU F v 
TABLE OF Gesu 5 Bes ‘ 2 ix 
LisT oF ILLUSTRATIONS ‘ : xiii 
INTRODUCTION Fi $ I 


PART I. THE NATURE OF VARIATION. 


PRELIMINARY ea F es 19 


CHAPTER I. VARIATION. 


pees ‘ ‘ q 21 
. Variations of Specria’ Characters. . F #3 25 
a. Variations in Cicindela . - 25 
6, Variations in Osceola doliata ‘ 29 
¢. Color-Variations in Cnemidophorus . 41 

d, Variations in North American Birds and Mam- 
mals in Relation to Locality. . ‘ i 45 
2. Variation of Structural Characters . . r 58 
3. Successional Relation . .. . z 62 


CuaAPTER II. PHYLOGENY. 


1. General Phylogeny PhS Se BCS 74 
2. Phylogeny of the Vertebrata . . . : 83 
«, Phylogeny of the Classes ee ee ee ee 83 
6. The Line of the Pisces . 3 ; 99 
c. The Line of the Batrachia ‘ 108 
d. The Line of the Reptilia. ; Hows oe ETS 
e. The Line of the Aves: . 123 
f. The Line of the Mammalia. ; + « $26 
g. Review of the Phylogeny of the Mammalia 138 


x PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


PAGE 
hk, Phylogeny of the Horse . fa a 2 146 
z. The Phylogeny of Man & eS 150 
3. The Law of the Unspecialized . . . 172 
CHAPTER III. PARALLELISM. 
Preliminary . : 175 
1. Parallelism in the Bisehionaa 3 176 
2. Parallelism in the Cephalopoda 182 
3. Parallelism in the Vertebrata. . 192 
4. Inexact Parallelism or Czenogeny. 3 200 
5. Objections to the Doctrine of Parallelism . 205 
CHAPTERIV. CATAGENESIS. . . . ; 211 
PART II. THE CAUSES OF VARIATION. 
PRELIMINARY. . fe 2 Os 225 
CHAPTER V. PHYSIOGENESIS. 
Preliminary . z ‘ ‘ 227 
a, Relation of Size of Mollusca to Environment. . 229 
6. The Conversion of Artemia into Branchinecta 229 
c. Production of Colors in Lepidopterous Pupz . 230 
@. Effect of Light on the Colors of Flatfishes . 238 
e. Effect of Feeding on Color in Birds . 238 
f. Blindness in Cave Animals. . . . . 241 
CHAPTER VI. KINETOGENESIS. 
ae tags 3. yi Sahay ola 246 
. Kinetogenesis of Miusevlas Sirnetane ge ok : 249 
z. Kinetogenesis in Mollusca. . . 255 
a, Origin of the Plaits in the Cidlatmmatts of the Gas- 
teropoda 255 
. Mechanical Origin of Ghantens | in the Lamelli- 
branchiata . 261 
c. Mechanical Origin of fie. impressed Fite in 
Cephalopoda. . . ‘ 268 
3. Kinetogenesis in Vermes and Artheopoda ga Sy . 268 
4. Kinetogenesis in Vertebrata . . . a a te 275. 
i. Kinetogenesis of Osseous Tissue . a TS 


«, Abnormal Articulations . . . + 275 


CONTENTS. xi 


! 

PAGE 
6. Normal Articulations. . . . = 6 3 « 283 
. The Physiology of Bone Mantding toe ee 285 
ii. “Moulding of the Articulations. . . . . . . . 287 
a, The Limb Articulations . Ms oe, . . 287 
6. The Forms of Vertebral Centra . 6 a & « 362 
iii. Increase of Size Through Use. . . . + 304 
a, The Proportions of the Limbs and their Seamenle 305 
6. The Number of the Digits . . . . . . 309 
ce. The Horns . . . « = 314 
iv. Mechanical Origin ot Dental Types, : .  . 318 
Preliminary . . ae ocae, et cai A Ca SLe 
a. The Origin of Canines Teeth Bh far oat be +. 327 
6. The Development of the Incisors. . . . . . 328 
c. The Development of Molars fot. Hot - 331 
d, Origin of the Carnivorous Dentition el ge 932 
e. Origin of the Dental Type of the Glires. . . . 345 
v. Disusein Mammalia. . . . .... , 352 
a, Natatory Limbs. . . Hi gs, “gp Ak 352 
6, Abortion of Phalanges in Uawalats ie gear + 353 
c, Atrophy of Ulnaand Fibula . .. . » . 355 
d, Atrophy of Incisor Teeth . . . . . . . . 356 
vi. Homoplassy in Mammalia. . . . . . . . . 357 
vii. Origin of the Divisions of Vertebrata . . . . . 362 
5. Objections to Kinetogenesis . . . . . . . « «375 
CuapTER VII, NatTuRAL SELECTION. . . . 1. «© « © 385 

PART III. THE INHERITANCE OF VARIATION. 
PRELIMINARY. . «©. . s ee ee ee 2 & ee BOT 

CuHapTerR VIII. HeEreEpitTy. 

1. The Question Stated . 7 ne eee .  . 398 
2. Evidence from Embryology . . Sica + + 401 
a, Vertebrata . . . . . eos . » . 40I 
6. Arthropoda. . . ee ee ke GOR 
3. Evidence from Paleontology . . 2 & = #405 
«a, The Impressed Zone of the Nauiiloids é » 405 
4. Evidence from Breeding . . . i, Mili Te wees nd Se 
«, Of Characters Due to Nutrition pe . 6 423 
4. Of Characters Due to Exercise of Function . . 426 


c. Of Characters Due to Disease. . . . . . 430 


xii PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


PAGE 
d. Of Characters Due to Mutilation and Injuries . 431 
. Of Characters Due to Regional Influences . 435 
5. The Conditions of Inheritance ; . 438 
6. Objections to the Doctrine of Tatlevitaned of Mcieleea 
Characters; « « « 4 © «& © ® * @ «» & « «© 458 
CuHaPTER IX. Tue ENERGY oF EvoLuTIon. 
Prelimifiary,, s. ae. we Ok ee a a ZS 
1. Atiageniesis’ 6.2 4 i) Seow Sa A HR cae 475 
2. Bathmogenesis. we ap Pdin Ts) odds) 28g) g - 484 
CHAPTER X. THE FUNCTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 
1. Consciousness and Automatism fu z A 495 
2. The Effects of Consciousness . , 509 


CHAPTER XI. THE Opinions oF NEO-LAMARCKIANS . 2 518 


Fig. 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 


- Horn on Cicindela . 

. Osceola doliata triangula . 

. Osceola doliata clerica . 

. Osceola doliata collaris. 

. Osceola doliata temporalis. 

. Osceola doliata doliata . 

. Osceola doliata syspila . 

. Osceola doliata parallela . 

. Osceola doliata annulata . 

. Osceola doliata coccinea 

. Cnemidophorus tessellatus . 

. Cnemidophorus gularis . 

. Lacerta muralis ‘ 

. Shoulder-girdle of Pigilomidiica cota: : 

. Do. of Rana temporaria, tadpole with budding itmbe: 
. Do., adult . © eos 
. Bufonide 

. Scaphiopidz and Pelobatidze 

. Hylide. nah 

. Cystignathidze 

. Ranide. 

. Feet of Uma sbpparts Cape, atl Plonnpass garrulus 


Smith 


. Eusthenopterum ‘foowds Whiteaves 

. Paired fins of Cladoselache Dean 

. Extremities of skeletons of caudal fins of fates 
. Cricotus crassidiscus Cope, head and belly 

. Cricotus crassidiscus Cope, vertebral column and pelvis 112 


PAGE 


27 
32 
32 
34 
34 
36 
38 
38 
40 
40 
42 
43 
44 
64 
64 
64 
66 
66 
67 
67 
67 


72 
go 
92 
96 


. Iii 


xiv PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


PAGE 
Fig. 29. Crania of Stegocephalia and Cotylosauria . . . . 117 
30. Diagrams of crania of Reptilia. . . . .. . 118 
31. Do. . ee 119 
32. Archaeopteryx Behograpibien Waipu. ae stie, 22 125 
33. Ungulata, anterior feet 129 
34. Ungulata, posterior feet . . . . . .. . 130 
35. Ungulata, anterior and posterior feet . é 131 
36. Phenacodus vortmanii Cope. . . . 134 

37. Fore and hind limbs of Phenacodus prima and 
Homo sapiens . 137 

38. Skull of Anapionephais Hoomnentus Cope. Lower 
jaw of Anaptomorphus emutus Cope be oe I51 
39. Tomitherium rostratum Cope, mandible . 156 
40. Tomitherium rostratum Cope, fore arm ‘ 157 
41. Tomitherium rostratum Cope, ilium and femur 158 
42. Megaladapis madagascariensis Forsyth ae 160 
43. Skullofthe manof Spy ... . 161 

44. Outlines of calvaria of the Meandecthal man, of the 
Spy men. 162 

45. Vertical sections of symphysis mandibull of govilla’ 

of orang; of chimpanzee; of Spy men . 164 

46, Sections of symphysis mandibuli of modern Liégois 
and of an ancient Parisian. ae 166 
47. Molar teeth of man. . . . : 167 
48. Parallelism in Brachiopoda . . , 181 
49. Circulatory systems. . 194 
50. Succession of horns of Cervzs shapes L. : 197 
51. Shoulder-girdles of Anura ba oho Ae 198 
52. Lernea branchialis dos div, ie 212 
53. Entoconcha mirabilis Mill. ; 214 
54. Mycetozoa. . . ‘ ; 220 
55. Typhlogobius eben miensis Stead. » 245 


56. Fusus parilis Con., displaying non-plicate édtowielte. 257 
57. Mitra lineo/ata Heilprin, showing the plications of the 


columella - 259 
58. Siphocyprea prbliaie. Heilaein, showing plica- 

tions of lips ‘ ‘ : : 260 
59. Ostrea edulis, embryo . . .  . 262 
60. Myaarenaria . . play! der! gh. B 263 


61. Modiola plicatula . . . . . ae 264 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xv 


PAGE 
. Ostrea virginiana . . : 264 
: Diagrammatic representation of the segiaents of the 
leech. . . , . 270 
. Diagrammatic se peesentstion se the rings age a pam: 
tive crustacean. . y a « 2975 
. Diagrams of hand of Grangois ane of Astana . 274 
. Elbows of man and horse rae : 280 
. Elbow of horse . . . 281 
. Periptychus rhabdodon Cops; slowing Do ee 5 288 
. Hind foot of Poébrotherium labiatum Cope. . 290 
. Hind foot of three-toed horse F 290 
. United first bones of two middle toes of deer: auldiope 291 
. Wrist-joints at distal extremity of forearm . . . 292 
. Elbow-joint of Crocuta maculataL. . . . - 294 
. Elbow-joint of chimpanzee . . be Gr wee. SBOE 
. Elbow-joint of Cervus elaphus . . . . . > 296 
. Cervus canadensis in motion a @ Ss te 4 9 207 
. Cervus elaphus . . . . 298 
. Diagram of carpus of a Taxcopoi, a a diplerthrons 
ungulate ‘i ’ . 299 
. Raccoon pacing. . . .... . 299 
. Rhinocerus unicornis carpus. . 5 . 300 
. Equus cabatlus fore foot ‘ 300 
. Gazelladorcas . . . 301 
. Pes of Marychochavasn montanus and Bos taurus . 307 
. Anterior feet of primitive Ungulata : . 308 
. Right posterior foot of Prothippus and Hesbeotheniiis 310 
. Manus of Artiodactyla. . 4 312 
. Burrs on antlers of Cosoryx necatus Leidy 316 
. Diagram of excursion of lower jaw in mastication 320 
. Cervus, molars . ; : 321 
. Cusps of superior peal aad ieee So a 322 
. Two true molars of both jaws of a ruminant 323 
. Sections of superior molar teeth . . 323 
. Chirox plicatus Cope, palate and molar teeth 324 
. Meniscoéssus conguistus Cope, last two superior mo- 
lars. je eS : : be » 325 
. Lemur collaris, dentiGion i ‘ . 326 
. Esthonyx burmeisterti Cope, dentition ; .  . 328 


xvi PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


PAGE 

Fig. 97. Psittacotherium multifragum Cope, mandibular ra- 
mus ; ‘ : . 329 

98. Diagrammatic representations of horizontal sections 

of tricuspidate molars of both jaws in mutual rela- 


tion é » 333 
99. Delsathevium fandordeis Cope, Ragmedinty tea 336 
100. Centetes ecaudatus, skull and molars 1 « 337 

ror. Inferior molar crowns representing transition from 
the simple to the quadritubercular vis 338 

102. Stypholophus whitie Cope; apposition of inferior 
and superior molars . : wi ti . 339 
103. Cynodictis geismarianus Cope; skull a - 341 

104. Aelurodon sevus Leidy; coadaptation of crowns of 
superior and inferior molars in mastitation 342 
105. Smilodon neogeus Lund; skull. ' 344 
106. Sections of crowns of molars of Ungulata .° 345 
107. Castorotdes ohioensis Foster; skull . . . 347 
108. Castorotdes ohioensis Foster ; skull from below 350 
109. Lschyromys typus Leidy ; cranium and mandible . 351 
110. Balena mysticetus ; fore limb ou 353 
r11. Feet of Amblypoda . ; ‘ . 354 
112. Feet of Proterotheriide ; : » 358 
113. Dorsal vertebrz of casnpaadudgiaus ficties 370 
114. Vertebral column of Eryops megacephalus Cope 371 
114a Sleeve of coat : Bae ‘ 371 
115. Metatoceras cavatiformis Hyatt . . 406 
116, Do. ; , 407 
117. Temnochilus crassus er 407 
118. Metacoceras dubium Hyatt .  » 408 
119. Hyatt on Cephalopoda 410 


120. Diagram explanatory of Diplogenesis 441 


INTRODUCTION. 


‘HE doctrine of evolution may be defined as the 
teaching which holds that creation has been and 
is accomplished by the agency of the energies which 
are intrinsic in the evolving matter, and without the 
interference of agencies which are external to it. It 
holds this to be true of the combinations and forms of 
inorganic nature, and of those of organic nature as 
well. Whether the intrinsic energies which accom- 
plish evolution be forms of radiant or other energy 
only, acting inversely as the square of the distance, 
and without consciousness, or whether they be ener- 
gies whose direction is affected by the presence of con 
sciousness, the energy is a property of the physical 
basis of tridimensional matter, and is not outside of it, 
according to the doctrine we are about to consider. 
As a view of nature from an especial standpoint, 
evolution takes its place asa distinct science. The 
science of evolution is the science of creation, and is 
as such to be distinguished broadly from the sciences 
which consider the other operations of nature, or the 
functioning of nature, which are not processes of crea- 
tion, but processes of destruction. This contrast is 
especially obvious in organic evolution, where the two 
processes go on side by side, and are often closely in- 


2 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


termingled, as for instance in muscular action, where 
both destruction of proteids and growth of muscular 
tissue result from the same acts, or use. Physiology, 
or the science of functions, concerns itself chiefly with 
destruction, and hence physiologists are especially 
prone to be insensible to the phenomena and laws of 
progressive evolution. The building of the embryo, 
remains a sealed book to the physiologist unless he 
take into account the allied biological science of evo- 
lution, as resting on the facts of botany, zodlogy, and 
paleontology. In his reflections on the relations of 
mind to matter he is likely to see only the destructive 
functioning of tissue, and not the history of the build- 
ing of the same during the ages of geological time. 

J. B. P. A. Lamarck! thus contrasts the theories 
of direct creation, and creation by evolution. The 
former asserts: ‘‘ That nature or its author in creating 
animals has foreseen all possible kinds of circumstances 
in which they may have to live, and has given to each 
species a permanent organization as well as a prede- 
termined form, invariable in its parts; that it forces 
each species to live in the place and the climate where 
one finds them, and to preserve there the habits which 
it has.” He then states his own, or the evolutionary, 
opinion to be: ‘*That nature in producing succes- 
sively all species of animals, commencing with the 
most imperfect or simple, and terminating its work 
with the most perfect, has gradually complicated their 
organization ; and these animals spreading themselves 
gradually into all habitable regions of the globe,— 
each species has been subjected to the influence of the 
circumstances in which it is ; and these have produced 
the habits which we observe, and the modifications of 


1 Philosophie Zoologique, Paris, 1809, Vol. I., Chap. VII. 


INTRODUCTION. 3 


its parts.” On an earlier page of the same chapter, 
Lamarck thus formulates the laws of organic evolu- 
tion, to which his name has been attached. 

First law. <‘‘In every animal which has not passed 
the time of its development, the frequent and sustained 
employment of an organ gradually strengthens it, de- 
velops and enlarges it, and gives it power proportional 
to the duration of its use; while the constant disuse 
of a like organ weakens it, insensibly deteriorates it, 
progressively reduces its functions, and finally causes 
it to disappear.” 

Second law. ‘‘All that nature acquires or loses in 
individuals by the influence of circumstances to which 
the race has been exposed for a long time, and in con- 
sequence of the influence of the predominate employ- 
ment of such an organ, or of the influence of disuse of 
such part, she preserves by generation, in new indi- 
viduals which spring from it, providing the acquired 
changes be common to both sexes, or to those which 
have produced new individuals.” 

We have here a theory of the origin of characters; , 
viz., of the increased development or loss of parts as 
a result of use or disuse. We have also the theory 
that the peculiarities thus acquired are transmitted to 
the succeeding generation by inheritance. 

The next formal statement of the efficient cause of 
organic evolution was presented by Messrs. Charles 
Darwin and Alfred R. Wallace in 1859.1 The cause 
assigned is natural selection, and Mr. Darwin thus 
states what is meant by this expression in his work 
The Origin of Species.? ‘*If under changing conditions 
of life organic beings present individual differences 


1 Proceedings of the Li: Soctety of London. 
2Ed. 1872, p. 102. 


4. PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


in almost any part of their structure, and this cannot 
be disputed ; if there be, owing to their geometrical 
rate of increase, a severe struggle for life at some age, 
season, or year, and this certainly cannot be disputed ; 
then considering the infinite complexity of the rela- 
tions of all organic beings to each other and to their 
conditions of life, causing an infinite diversity of struc- 
ture, constitution, and habits, to be advantageous to 
them, it would be a most extraordinary fact if no varia- 
tions had ever occurred useful to each being’s own wel- 
fare, in the same manner as so many variations have 
occurred useful to man. But if variations useful to 
any organic being ever do occur, assuredly individuals 
thus characterized will have the best chance of being 
preserved in the struggle for life; and from the strong 
principle of inheritance, these will tend to produce off- 
spring similarly characterized. This principle of pre- 
servation, or the survival of the fittest, I have called 
natural selection. It leads to the improvement of each 
creature in relation to its organic and inorganic condi- 
tions of life; and consequently in most cases, to what 
must be regarded as an advance in organization. 
Nevertheless, low and simple forms will long endure 
if well fitted for their simple conditions of life.” 

It is readily perceived that this statement makes 
no attempt to account for the origin of variations, but 
that it simply formulates, as observed by Mr. Darwin, 
the doctrine of survival of such variations as are most 
useful to their possessors. This fact is more distinctly 
pointed out in the same work (p. 63) where the author 
remarks: ‘‘Several writers have misapprehended or 
objected to the term natural selection. Some have 
even imagined that natural selection induces variabil- 
ity, whereas it implies only the preservation of such 


INTRODUCTION. 5 


variations as arise and are beneficial to the being under 
its conditions of life. No one objects to agriculturists 
speaking of the potent effects of man’s selection, and 
in this case the individual differences given by nature, 
which man for some object selects, must of necessity 
first occur.” Itis evident then that Mr. Darwin did 
not attempt to account for the origin of variations, but 
that the service rendered by him and by Mr. Wallace 
to the doctrine of evolution consists in the demonstra- 
tion of the reality of natural selection. Darwin also 
assumes in the statement first quoted above, the in- 
heritance of acquired characters. 

In 1865 the Principles of Biology of Herbert Spen- 
cer appeared. In this work the attempt is made to 
set forth the laws of organic evolution, in a way which 
represents an advance beyond the positions of his 
predecessors. He adopts and harmonizes both the 
Lamarckian and Darwinian doctrines, and is at times 
more specific in his application of Lamarck’s doctrine 
of the stimulus of the environment, and of use, than 
was Lamarck himself. Very often, however, Spencer 
contents himself with generalities ; or takes refuge in 
the ‘‘instability of the homogeneous,” as an efficient 
cause. This phrase, however, like his other one, ‘‘the 
unknowable,” is but a makeshift of temporary ignor- 
ance, and is neglected by Spencer himself, when he 
can see his way through it. He approaches the cause 
of the varied forms of leaves of plants in this language :! 
«And it will also be remembered that these equalities 
and inequalities of development correspond with the 
equalities and inequalities in the incidence of forces.” 
Language of similar significant but rather indefinite 
import is frequently used throughout this volume. 


1 The Principles of Biology, by Herbert Spencer, Amer. Ed., 1873, II., p. 143. 


6 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


But in some cases Spencer is more specific. With 
reference to the inequality in the basal lobes of the 
erect leaves of Tilia and other plants, he says :1 «A 
considerable deviation from bilateral symmetry may 
be seen in a leaf which habitually so carries itself that 
the half on the one side of the midrib is more shaded 
than the other half. The drooping branches of the 
lime show us leaves so arranged and so modified. On 
examining their attitudes and their relations one to 
another, it will be found that each leaf is so inclined 
that the half of it next the shoot grows over the shoot 
and gets plenty of light ; while the other half so hangs 
down that it comes a good deal into the shade of the 
preceding leaf. The result is that having learned which 
fall into these positions, the species profits by a large 
deveiopment of the exposed halves ; and by survival 
of the fittest acting along with the direct effect of extra 
exposure, this modification becomes established.”” In 
his discussion of the origin of the characters of ani- 
mals, Spencer is also sometimes specific. Respecting 
the development of muscular insertions he remarks :? 
‘‘Anatomists easily discriminate between the bones of 
a strong man and those of a weak man by the greater 
development of those ridges and crests to which the 
muscles are attached ; and naturalists on comparing 
the remains of domesticated animals with those of 
wild animals of the same species, find kindred differ- 
ences. The first of these facts shows unmistakably 
the immediate effect of function on structure, and, by 
obvious alliance with it, the second may be held to do 
the same, both implying that the deposit of dense sub- 
stance capable of great resistance habitually takes 


104, cit., p. 143. 
2 Loc, cit., p. 200. 


INTRODUCTION. 7 


place at points where the tension is excessive.” Quite 
as specific is his ascription of the forms of epithelial 
cells to definite causes, as follows :! « fust the equal- 
ities and inequalities of dimensions among aggregated 
cells, are here caused by the equalities and inequalities 
among their mutual pressures in different directions ; 
so though less manifestly, the equalities and inequali- 
ties of dimensions among other aggregated cells, are 
caused by the equalities and inequalities of the osmatic, 
chemical, thermal, and other forces besides the me- 
chanical, to which their different positions subject 
them.” 

In spite of this not infrequent definiteness, Mr. 
Spencer occasionally falls into the error of ascribing 
the origin of structures to natural selection, as in the 
case of the forms of flowers,? and the armor-plates of 
paleozoic fishes.? Spencer assumes the inheritance of 
acquired characters throughout. 

‘In 1866 Haeckel’s Schépfungsgeschichte appeared. 
In this work the author presents a mass of evidence 
which sustains the doctrine of evolution, and he com- 
bines the views of Lamarck and Darwin into a general 
system. He says:* ‘“We should, on account of the 
grand proofs just enumerated, have to adopt Lamarck’s 
theory of descent for the explanation of biological phe- 
nomena, even if we did not possess Darwin’s theory of 
selection. The one isso completely and directly proved 
by the other, and established by mechanical causes, 
that there remains nothing to be desired. The laws 
of inheritance and adaptation are universally acknowl- 


10. cit., p. 260. 
2 Of, cit., p. 153. 
3 Op. cit., p. 288. 
4The History of Creation, Amer. Edition, II., p. 355. 


8 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


edged physiological facts, the former traceable to prop- 
agation, the latter to the nutrition of organisms.” 
Apart from the statement that adaptation is traceable 
“to the nutrition of organisms,” we find nothing in 
Haeckel’s earlier writings which attempts the ex- 
planation of the origin of variations, beyond the gen- 
eral position assumed by Lamarck. The distinctive 
merit of Haeckel is his formulation of phylogeny. Much 
of this was speculative at the time he wrote, but so far 
as the Vertebrata are concerned, it has been largely 
confirmed by subsequent discovery. 

Up to this period, the form in which the doctrine 
of evolution had been presented, was general in its 
application; that is, without exact reference to the 
structural definitions of natural taxonomic groups. No 
attempt was made to show the modes of the origin of 
any particular class, order, or genus, and only in the 
most general way in the case of a few species, by Mr. 
Darwin. Phylogeny was untried, except by Haeckel; 
and this distinguished author did not attempt to ac- 
count specifically for the origins of the divisions whose 
filiations he set forth. 

In the year in which Haeckel’s work above cited 
appeared, Professor Hyatt of Boston and myself took 
the first step towards the formulization of a rational 
theory of the origin of variation, which should accord 
with specific examples of taxonomy. Quite indepen- 
dently, we selected the simple series presented by the 
characters of genera in their natural relations, Hyatt 
in the cephalopodous Mollusca, and I in the Batrachia 
Salientia. It is probable that Hyatt’s! article was pub- 
lished shortly before mine.” He says of the genera of 
Cephalopoda: “‘In other words, there is an increasing 


1 Memoirs Boston Society Natural History, 1866, p. 193. 


INTRODUCTION, 9 


concentration of the adult characteristics in the young 
of higher species and a consequent displacement of 
other embryonic features which had themselves also 
previously belonged to the adult period of still lower 
forms.””% My own language is:! «*That the presence, 
rudimental condition, or absence of a given generic 
character can be accounted for on the hypothesis of a 
greater rapidity of development in the individuals of 
the species of the extreme type, such stimulus being 
more and more vigorous in the individuals of the types 
as we advance towards the same, or by a reversed im- 
pulse? of development, where the extreme is charac- 
terized by absence or ‘mutilation’ of characters.” The 
phenomena of the aggregation of characters in pro- 
gressive evolution, and the loss of characters in retro- 
gressive evolution, were termed by me acceleration and 
retardation in an essay published in 1869.3 In these 
papers by Professor Hyatt and myself is found the 
first attempt to show by concrete examples of natural 
taxonomy, that the variations that result in evolution 
are not multifarious or promiscuous, but definite and 
direct, contrary to the method which seeks no origin 
for variations other than natural selection. In other 
words, these publications constitute the first essays in 
systematic evolution that appeared. By the discovery 
of the paleontologic succession of modifications of the 
articulations of the vertebrate, and especially mamma- 
lian skeleton, I first furnished an actual demonstration 
of the reality of the Lamarckian factor of use, or mo- 


1 Transactions American Philosophical Society, 1866, p. 398; reprinted in 
The Origin of the Fittest, p. 92. 


2 The expression ‘‘reversed"’ is unfortunate, d/mnished being the proper 
word to convey the meaning intended. 


8 The Origin of Genera, Philadelphia, 1869. 


10 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


tion, as friction, impact, and strain, as an efficient 
cause of evolution.! This demonstration led me to the 
necessary inference that when the agency directive of 
motion is consciousness, this also has been an impor- 
tant factor of evolution, in demonstration of the sup- 
position of Erasmus Darwin.? Hyatt has demonstrated 
first on paleontologic evidence, the inheritance of a 
mechanically acquired character. Important contribu- 
tions to corresponding histories of the Mollusca have 
been made by Hyatt,’ Dall,* Jackson,’ and Beecher.® 
Many other contributions, into which the paleontologic 
evidence does not enter, have also been made by vari- 
ous authors in Europe and America. 

The authors quoted up to this point had all as 
sumed that the progress of evolution depends on the 
inheritance by the offspring of new characters acquired 
by the parent, and had believed that such is the fact 
in ordinary experience. In 1883, Weismann, in an 
essay on heredity, announced the opinion that charac- 
ters acquired by the body could not be transmitted to 
the reproductive cells, and could not therefore be in- 
herited. This doctrine rests on the relation of the 
germ-cells to those of the rest of the body, which is 
expressed in the following language of his predecessor 
Jaeger: ‘‘Through a great series of generations the 


1“The Origin of the Hard Parts of Mammalia,” American Journal of 
Morphology, 1889, p. 137. 


2 Origin of the Fittest, 1887, p. 357. 


3 Phylogeny of an Acquired Characteristic,'’’ Proc. Amer, Philosophical 
Society, 1893, p. 349; ‘‘ The Genesis of the Arietide," Memocrs Mus. Compar. 
Zoblogy, Cambridge, Mass., 1889, XVI., No. 3. 

4Dall, W. H., ‘The Hinge of Pelecypods and Its Development, Amer. 
Jour, Sct, Arts, 1889, XXXVIIL., p. 445. 

5 Jackson, R. T., ‘‘ Phylogeny of the Pelecypoda, the Aviculidz, and Their 
Allies,’’ Memoirs Boston Society Natural History, 1890, IV., p. 277. 

8American Journal Sei, Arts, 1893. 


INTRODUCTION. II 


germinal protoplasm retains its specific properties, 
dividing in every reproduction into an ontogenetic por- 
tion and a phylogenetic portion, which is reserved to 
form the reproductive material of the mature offspring. 
This reservation of the phylogenetic material I de- 
scribed as the continuity of the germ-protoplasm. ... 
Encapsuled in the ontogenetic material the phyloge- 
netic protoplasm is sheltered from external influences, 
and retains its specific and embryonic characters.” In 
other words, the reproductive cells are removed from 
the influence of those stimuli which affect and effect 
growth in the cells of the other parts of the body, so 
that no character acquired by the rest of the body can 
be inherited. The bearing of this theory on evolution 
is thus stated by Weismann:! ‘The origin of heredi- 
tary individual variations cannot indeed be found in 
the higher organisms, the metazoa and metaphyta, but 
is to be sought for in the lowest, the unicellular.” ‘‘The 
formation of new species, which among the lower pro- 
tozoa could be achieved without amphigony (sexual 
union), could only be attained by means of this process 
in the metazoa and metaphyta. It was only in this 
way that hereditary individual differences could arise 
and persist.”” In other words, variation in organic 
beings above the unicellular forms, has been and is, 
introduced only by sexual reproduction. 

The conclusions of Weismann were derived prin- 
cipally from embryologic research, and his disciples 
have been chiefly recruited from embryologists. These 
conclusions have been supported by extensive and ex- 
haustive investigations, which have added greatly to 
our knowledge of the subject. In order to account for 


1£ssays, p. 296. For a complete account of Weismann’s views, see The 
Germ-Plasm, 1893. 


iz PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


the appearance of characters in the embryonic succes- 
sion, through influences confined to the germ-plasma, 
Weismann invented a theory which requires the pres- 
ence of distinct molecular aggregates within it, which 
represent the potentialities or causes. To these he has 
given the names of ids, idants, determinants, etc. As 
Weismann’s contribution to evolution has been con- 
fined to the department of heredity, I will consider it 
more particularly in the third part of this book, which 
is devoted to that subject. 

Weismann has, however, subsequently modified 
his views to a considerable extent. He has always 
admitted the doctrine of Lamarck to be applicable to 
the evolution of the types of unicellular organisms. 
His experiments on the effect of temperature on the 
production of changes of color in butterflies, showed 
that such changes were not only effected, but were 
sometimes inherited. This he endeavors to explain as’ 
follows.! ‘‘Many climatic variations may be due wholly 
or in part, to the simultaneous variation of correspond- 
ing determinants in some parts of the soma and in the 
germ-plasm of the reproductive cells.” This is an ad- 
mission of the doctrine which in 1890 I called Diplo- 
genesis,” and which is adopted in the present work. It 
appears to have been first propounded by Galton in 
1875. In the chapter on Heredity I hope to offer some 
reasons for believing that the suggestion of Galton 
embraces the true doctrine of heredity. 

From what has preceded, two distinct lines of 
thought explanatory of the fact of organic evolution 
may be discerned. In one of these the variations of 
organisms which constitute progressive and regressive 


1 The Germ Plasm, Contemporary Science Series, 1893, p. 406. 
2American Naturalist, Dec., 1889; published in 1890. 


INTRODUCTION. 13 


evolution appear fortuitously, and those which are 
beneficial survive by natural selection, while those 
which are not so, disappear. Characters both benefi- 
cial and useless or harmless, which are acquired by the 
adult organism, are not transmitted to the young, so 
that no education in habit or structure acquired by the 
adult, has any influence in altering the course of evo- 
lution. This is the doctrine of Preformation. From 
this point of view the cause of the variations of organ- 
isms has yet to be discovered. 

The other point of view sees in variation the direct 
result of stimuli from within or without the organism ; 
and holds that evolution consists of the inheritance of 
such variations and the survival of the fit through nat- 
ural selection. This is the doctrine of Epigenesis. To 
this I would add that in so far as sensations or states 
of consciousness are present, they constitute a factor in 
the process, since they enable an organism to modify 
or change its stimuli. The position of each of these 
schools on each of the questions to which reference 
has been made, may be placed in opposition as follows : 


1. Variations appear in defi- 
nite directions. 


2. Variations are caused by 
the interaction of the organic 
being and its environment. 


3. Acquired variations may 
be inherited. 


4. Variations survive directly 
as they are adapted to changing 
environments. (Natural selec- 
tion.) 


1. Variations are promiscu- 
ous or multifarious. 


2. Variations are ‘‘congeni- 
tal” or are caused by mingling 
of male and female germ-plas- 
mas. 


3. Acquired variations cannot 
be inherited. 


4. Variations survive directly 
as they are adapted to changing 
environments. (Natural selec- 
tion.) 


14. PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


5. Movements of the organ- 
ism are caused or directed by 
sensation and other conscious 
states. 


6. Habitual movements are 
derived from conscious experi- 
ence. 


7. The rational mind is de- 
veloped by experience, through 
memory and classification. 


5. Movements of organism 
are not caused by sensation or 
conscious states, but are a sur- 
vival through natural selection 
from multifarious movements. 


6. Habitual movements are 
produced by natural selection. 


7. The rational mind is de- 
veloped by natural selection 
from multifarious mental activ- 


ities, 


It is not the object of the present book to present all 
the available evidence on both sides of each of the ques- 
tions above enumerated. I propose merely to submit 
certain facts, in support of the doctrines contained in 
the left-hand column of the above table. My aim will 
be to show in the first place, that variations of charac- 
ter are the effect of physical causes ; and second, that 
such variations are inherited. The facts adduced in 
support of these propositions will be necessarily prin- 
cipally drawn from my own studies in the anatomy, 
ontology, and paleontology of the Vertebrata. It will 
be my aim, moreover, to co-ordinate the facts of evo- 
lution with those of systematic biology, so that the re- 
sult may be as clearly presented as possible. The fail- 
ure to do this by the founders of evolutionary doctrine 
has given their work a lack of precision, which has 
been felt by systematic biologists. The detailed ap- 
plication of the principles of Lamarck and Darwin has 
been the work of their successors, and has necessarily 
thrown much new light on the principles themselves. 
In pursuing the object above stated, I shall be obliged 


INTRODUCTION. 15 


to consider briefly in the following pages, the validity 
of the general propositions on which the doctrine of 
evolution rests. Less space will be given, however, 
to those which are less relevant, than to those which 
are more relevant to the doctrine of neo-Lamarckism. 


PART I. 


THE NATURE OF VARIATION. 


PRELIMINARY. 


HE structural relations of organisms may be ex- 

pressed in the following canons :} 

1. Homology.—This means that organic beings are 
composed of corresponding parts ; that the variations of 
an original and fixed number of elements constitute 
their only differences. A part large in one animal may 
be small in another, or vice versa ; or complex in one 
and simple in another. The analysis of animals with 
skeletons, or Vertebrata, has yielded several hundred 
original elements, out of which the twenty-eight thou- 
sand included species are constructed. The study of 
homologies is thus an extended one, and is far from 
complete at the present day. 

2. Successional Relation.—This expresses the fact 
that species naturally arrange themselves into series in 
consequence of an order of excess and deficiency in 
some feature or features. Thus species with three toes 
naturally intervene between those with one and four 
toes. So with the number of chambers of the heart, 
of segments of the body, the skeleton, etc. There are 
greater series and lesser or included series, and mis- 
takes are easily made by taking the one for the other. 


1 Origin of the Fittest, p.6, The laws here stated are as expressive of the 
relations of plants as of animals. 


20 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


3. Parallelism.—This states that all organisms in 
their embryonic and later growth pass through stages 
which recapitulate the successive permanent condi- 
tions of their ancestry. Hence those which traverse 
fewer stages resemble or are parad/el with the young of 
those which traverse more numerous stages. This is 
the broad statement, and is qualified by the details. 

4. TLeleology.—This is the law of fitness of structures 
for their special uses, and it expresses broadly the 
general adaptations of an animal to its home and 
habits. 

The first and fourth of the laws above enumerated 
are taken for granted as generally accepted, and are 

-not especially considered in the following pages. The 
second law, that of successional relation, is discussed 
and illustrated under the two heads of Variation and 
Phylogeny; the first expressing contemporary relations, 
and the second, successive relations in time. The third 

-law, or that of parallelism, is considered in a chapter 
devoted to that subject. 


CHAPTER I—ON VARIATION. 


PRELIMINARY. 


LL species are not equally variable. Some species 
vary little or not at all, even under domestication. 

Thus the varieties of the turkey (Aledeagris gallopavo) 
and the guinea-fowl (Wumida meleagris) are few, and 
are confined to albinistic or melanistic conditions. 
The barnyard fowl (Gallus sp.), on the other hand, 
varies enormously, as does also the pigeon (Columba 
“ivia). Among domesticated Mammalia the variations 
of cats (Felis domestica) are few as compared with those 
of dogs (Canis sp.). Variability is not peculiar to do- 
mesticated animals. A large proportion of animals 
and plants are, in a state of nature, variable, and some 
of these are much more so than others. The common 
garter-snake (Zu¢enta sirtalis) varies exceedingly, while 
the variations of the allied ribband snake (Zutenia 
Saurita) are minute or none. But little variation has 
been observed in the polar bear (Ursus maritimus), 
while the common bear (VU. arctos) presents many vari- 
eties. Similar conditions are found among fishes. Thus 
the larger species of pike, the muskallonge (Lucius nobi- 
ior), the pike (LZ. estor), and the pickerel (L. vermicu- 
Jatus) are constant in their characters, while the small 
pickerel (Z. vermiculatus) presents numerous varieties. 


22 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


Many of the varieties of the animals referred to in- 
habit the same territory, although some are restricted 
to particular regions. Of geographical varieties or 
races much is known. Asarule, all widely distributed 
species present them. Examples are the brown bear of 
the Northern Hemisphere (Ursus arctos); the cobra di 
capello snake of the warmer parts of Asia (Waja tripu- 
dians), and that of Africa (aya haje). In North Amer- 
ica the king-snake (Ophibolus getulus) and the milk- 
snake (Osceola doliata) are represented by distinct 
races in different regions. On the other hand, the 
copperhead (Ancistrodon contortrix) and the Eastern 
rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), which have a wide 
range, scarcely vary at all. The chub (Aydopsis bigut- 
tatus) is an example of a fish distributed everywhere 
east of the Rocky Mountains, which presents scarcely 
any variation. 

Variations are not promiscuous or multifarious, but 
are of certain definite kinds or in certain directions. 
Thus amid all their varieties, dogs never present black 
cross-bands on the back like those of the dog-opossum 
(Thylacinus cynocephalus) of Tasmania, nor do they 
present ocellated spots like those of the leopard, nor 
longitudinal stripes like those of certain squirrels. The 
same is true of the many varieties of cattle (Bos tau- 
rus), and of numerous other mammalia. Domestic 
fowls never vary to blue or green, colors which are 
common to many other birds; nor are canaries known 
to produce blue or red natural sports. All variations 
are in the first place necessarily restricted by the ex- 
isting characters of the ancestor; but beyond this it is 
evident that other conditions determine the nature of 
the variation. It is not supposable, for instance, that 
the pale tints of animals which live in dry regions 


ON VARIATION. 23 


originated by an accident or without a determining 
cause. The increased amount of dark pigment ob- 
served in animals which dwell in especially humid re- 
gions must have a corresponding cause, and it is nat- 
urally to be supposed, of a kind the opposite of that 
which. produces the pale colors. 

I shall adduce some illustrations which show that 
color variations in species, as well as structural varia- 
tions in higher groups, have appeared in certain defi- 
nite series, and observe a successional relation to each 
other, which may or may not coincide with geograph- 
ical conditions. The same relation is observed in the 
order of appearance of variations on the body. 

Eimer and Weismann have shown that the grad- 
ual modification of color markings has originated in 
lizards and in caterpillars at the posterior end of the 
body and has gradually extended forwards. This has 
been discovered both by comparisons of the variations of 
the adults, and by studies of the order of their appear- 
ance in ontogenetic growth. Eimer shows that longi- 
tudinal bands have been produced in some animals by 
the confluence of spots placed in transverse series, 
which themselves are the remains of interrupted trans- 
verse bands. Thus he believes that the spots of the 
leopard group of the large cats were derived from the 
breaking up of transverse bands of the character of 
those now possessed by the tiger. The uniform colo- 
ration of the lion is the result of the obliteration of the 
spots. Traces of these spots may be distinctly seen in 
lions’ cubs. 

In plants variation is said to be equally definite by 
Henslow. He says: ‘‘In 1847 Professor J. Buckman 
sowed the seed of the wild parsnip in the garden of 
the Agricultural College at Cirencester. The seeds 


24 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


began to vary, but in the same way, though in differ- 
ent degrees. By selecting seed from the best rooted 
plants the acquired ‘somatic’ characters of an en- 
larged root, glabrous leaves, etc., became fixed and 
hereditary; and the ‘Student,’ as he called it, having 
been ‘improved’ by Messrs. Sutton and Sons, is still 
regarded as ‘the best in the trade.’ This is definile 
variation, according to Darwin’s definition, for those 
weeded out did not differ from the selected, morpho- 
logically, except in degree, the variations towards im- 
provement not being quite fast enough to entitle them 
to survive.” 

Finally I wish especially to point out that variation 
in animals, and probably in plants, (with which I am 
not so familiar,) gives no ground for believing that 
‘«sports’’ have any considerable influence on the course 
of evolution. This is apparent whether we view the 
serial lines of variations of specific, generic, or higher 
characters ; or whether we trace the phylogeny of the 
animal and vegetable types by means of the paleonto- 
logical record. The method of evolution has appar- 
ently been one of successional increment or decrement 
of parts along definite lines. More or less abruptness 
in some of the steps of this succession there may have 
been ; since a definite amount of energy expended in 
a given direction at a given point of history might pro- 
duce a much greater effect than the same amount ex- 
pended at some other period or point of evolution. 
This might be due to the release of stored energy, 
which could only be accomplished by a coincidence of 
circumstances. A simple illustration of the phenome- 
non of abrupt metamorphosis is to be found in the 
passage of matter from the gaseous to the liquid, and 


ON VARIATION. 25 


from the liquid to the solid state. I have stated the 
case in the following language:} 

‘As one or more periods in the life of every spe- 
cies is characterized by a greater rapidity of develop- 
ment ” (ontogenetic) ‘‘than the remainder ; so in pro- 
portion to the approximation of such a period to the 
epoch of maturity or reproduction is the offspring 
liable to variation. During the periods corresponding 
to those between the rapid metamorphoses, the char- 
acters of the genus would be preserved unaltered, 
though the period of change would be ever approach- 
ing. Hence the transformation of genera may have 
been rapid and abrupt, and the intervening periods of 
persistency very long. Thus, while change is really 
progressing, the external features remain unchanged 
at other than those points, which may be called ex- 
pression points. Now the expression point of a new gen- 
eric type is reached when its appearance in the adult 
falls so far prior to the period of reproduction as to 
transmit it to the offspring and their descendants.” 


1. VARIATIONS OF SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 
a. Variations in the Coleopterous Genus Cicindela. 


Dr. George H. Horn has traced the variations in 
the color patterns of the elytra of the North American 
species of this abundant and well-known genus. He 
shows that they form series, in the following language :? 

‘‘Any one in glancing over this series will perceive 
that there is a great similarity of marking between 
many species. This similarity, which may be con- 
sidered as the type of marking, and is illustrated by 


l Origin of the Fittest, p. 79. 
2 Extomological News, Philadelphia, Feb., 1892, p. 25. 


26 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


No. 1 of the accompanying plate (Fig. 1) is the under- 
lying pattern from which all the forms observed in our 
Cicindela have been derived. 

“Before going further it is well to present the fol- 
lowing propositions that the argument ard the illus- 
trations may be understood. 

‘<1, The ¢ype of marking is the same in all our spe- 
cies. 

«¢2, Assuming a well-marked species as a central 
type the markings vary, 

a, by a progressive spreading of the white, 

4, by a gradual thinning or absorption of the white, 

c, by a fragmentation of the markings, 

d, by linear supplementary extension. 

«¢3, Many species are practically invariable. These 
fall in two series, 

a, those of the normal type, as vulgaris, hirticollis, 
and fenutsignata, 

4, those in which some modification of the type 
has become permanent, probably through isolation, as 
marginipennis, togata, and lemniscata. 

‘¢4. Those species which vary, do so in one direc- 
tion only. That is, supposing a species begins typ- 
ically with markings similar to vudgaris, the variation 
may be either in the direction of thickening and in- 
crease of white, as in hyperborea, generosa, and others, 
or in the direction of thinning or fragmentation of the 
white with perhaps an entire loss of markings as in 
hemorrhagica, splendida, or obsoleta. 

«The first two propositions must be considered as 
applying to the species of the genus collectively, the 
last two to the species separately. 

‘“«The accompanying plate has been prepared to 
illustrate these propositions. It must, however, be 


27 


ON VARIATION. 


a 
~ 
o 
ss) 
& 
BS 
3) 
id 
oO 
sj 
ro) 
‘=| 
i) 
io} 
| 
4 
a 
wt 
& 


28 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


understood that, in tracing the derivations from the 
typical, it is not possible to use one species, as these 
modifications go on gradually through a number of 
species, one sometimes beginning where another ends. 

‘In the plate, No. 1 represents vu/garis, which is 
a fairly typical species, following through generosa 
(2-3), pamphila (4), hyperborea var. (5), togata (6), gra- 
tiosa (7), canosa (8), we finally arrive at a perfect white 
elytron as seen in some varieties of dorsalis. 

“‘Following in the other direction through ¢enuz- 
Signata (9), marginipennis (10), hentztd (11), sexguttata 
(12), hemorrhagica (13), and splendida var. (14), it will 
be observed that through a gradual thinning or ab- 
sorption of the markings, or by their fragmentation 
and obliteration, we arrive at the opposite result of 
elytra without any white markings whatever, as in 
many forms of odsoleta, scutellaris, punctulata, and he- 
morrhagica. 

‘« Those species which vary from the type in hav- 
ing the markings broken into spots, as in 12-gutta/a 
or hentzit, may lose the spots by a gradual decrease of 
size, so that they all seem to disappear nearly at the 
same time; or the spots may disappear successively, 
those on the disc being the first to go, while the mar- 
ginal spots remain. 

«‘From our series it would be difficult to say which 
spot is the most persistent, but it is probably the lu- 
nule, as there are more with entirely dark elytra with 
slight traces of this spot than with any other, as shown 
in abdominalis and punctulata. 

‘¢Forms like Zemniscata (16) seem very far removed 
from the type, but many forms of zmperfecta (15) show 
how the markings gradually leave the margin and tend 


ON VARIATION. 29 


by fusion to form a vitta at first somewhat oblique, 
but finally becoming nearly median. 

‘« The last two figures on the plate represent the 
markings of gaddci (17) and saudcy? (18), in which the 
ends of the bands or lunules are greatly prolonged. 
The latter form, which represents dorsalis as well, is 
but rarely seen so perfectly marked, the tendency being 
toward a greater extension of the white. The other 
species is scarcely variable, although equally a coast 
form. 

‘Those species which retain a permanent diver- 
gence from the normal standard, such as /ogata (6) or 
lemniscata (16), are doubtless descendants from a nor- 
mal type which has varied, and in which a variety has 
become isolated and perpetuated itself.” 

The accompanying plate is copied from the original 
drawing by Dr. Horn, and which accompanies the 
paper now cited. 


&. Variations tn the Osceola doltata. 


The Milk-Snake, Osceola doliata Linn., ranges in 
North America over the Eastern, Central, and Austro- 
riparian districts, and is absent from the Sonoran 
and Pacific districts. It is found also in the humid 
regions of Mexico and Central America, as far as the 
Isthmus of Darien. Beyond this point it does not oc- 
cur, but a very similar snake (Opheomorphus mimus) is 
found in New Grenada. 

I have called attention to the color variations of 
this species in a brief paragraph in the introduction to 
my check list of Batrachia and Reptilia in North 
America, 1875,) and have given the characters of the 


1Bulletin of the U. S. National Museum, No. I, p. 4. 


30 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


color types, or subspecies, in an analytical key, ina 
‘‘Review of the Characters and Variations of the 
Snakes of North America,” 1892.! I have also given a 
series of figures representing the North American color 
forms, for which I am indebted to the United States 
National Museum, which are here reproduced. 

Before going further into the patterns of the Osce- 
ola doliata, 1 give a synoptic key of them. 


I. No yellow band posteriorly from orbit (a yellow half-collar). 
a. Dorsal spots or saddles (red) open at the side, the borders of 
adjacent spots forming pairs of black rings. 

Interspaces between red saddles open below ; scales not 
black-tipped ; front more or less black ; first black ring 
on nape only : O. d. coccinea, 

Interspaces between red saddles closed by black spot be- 
low ; scales black tipped ; front black; first black ring 
complete : O. a. polyzona. 

Interspaces not closed; rings, including first, complete on 
belly; first yellow band crossing occipital plates; front 
black ; scales not black-tipped : O. d. conjuncta, 

aa. Dorsal spots closed at the sides below, forming saddles. 
6, Saddles closed by a single black tract on the middle of the 
belly; no spots between the saddles. 

Dorsal spots undivided medially; front black ; first black 


ring complete : O. d. annulata, 

Dorsal spots divided longitudinally by a median black 

connection ; front black : O. d. gentilis. 

46. Inferior borders of saddles separate and not confluent with 
each other. 

Saddles completed on gastrosteges; no alternating spots ; 

no black collar : O. d. parallela. 


Saddles completed on gastrosteges ; spots opposite inter- 
vals forming a single series on the middle line of the 
belly : O. d. syspila, 

Saddles completed above the gastrosteges; alternating 
spots which do not meet on the middle line of the belly: 

O. d. doliata. 


1 Proceedings of the U.S, National Museum, XIV, p. 589-608. 


ON VARIATION, 31 


II. A yellow band posteriorly from orbit, bounded below by a black 
or brown one. 
a, Saddle spots closed laterally on gastrosteges ; alternate spots 
entirely on gastrosteges. 
A half collar behind parietal plates, no superciliary 


stripe : - O. d. temporalis. 
aa. Saddle spots closed above gastrosteges ; alternate spots on 
scales. : 


A half collar nearly or quite touching occipital plates, no 
bands ; alternate spots partly on gastrosteges: 
O. d, collaris, 
Neck with longitudinal bands ; alternate spots partly on 
gastrosteges . O. a. clerica. 
Neck with bands ; alternate spots entirely on scales: 
O. d. triangula. 


In Fig. 2 are represented vertical, lateral, and in- 
ferior views of parts of the body of the subspecies ¢77- 
angula, taken from a specimen in my collection from 
Westchester County, New York, which I owe to the 
kindness of my friend, Mr. T. H. Mead. 

The characters of this form are seen in (1) the 
presence of a light band extending from the posterior 
angle of the eye downward and backward, which is 
bounded by a black border above and below; (2) a 
black cross-band on the posterior border of the pre- 
frontal plates; (3) chevron shaped mark with the apex 
on the posterior part of the frontal plate, whose limbs 
extend posteriorly as a band on each side of the neck, 
where they are fused together, and continue as a sin- 
gle, broad band for a short distance; (4) a series of 
lateral spots which do not extend beyond the scales on 
to the gastrosteges, and which alternate with the dor- 
sal spots; (5) a series of spots on the ends of the gas- 
trosteges which alternate with the last mentioned; 
(6) a series of spots on the centers of the gastrosteges 
which alternate with the spots mentioned under (5). 


32 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


an 
SS. %, 
ee eatnt 

+) 


ee, 
See 
oe 
C 


é 


Osceola doliata triangula. 


Ke 
| iy 
A ini 


SC) 


Fig. 2. 


$4 


ee 


SR 


Osceola doliata clerica. 


Fig. 3. 


ON VARIATION. 33 


The ground color in this form is gray, and the spots 
are a rich brown with black borders. The belly has a 
white ground color. 

In Fig. 3 we have the subspecies clerica, where 
the following modifications appear. The fusion of the 
limbs of the chevron is more complete, and the dorsal 
spots are more expanded transversely. They extend 
to within two or three scales of the gastrosteges, while 
in the form ¢rzangulus they are five scales distant. The 
alternate spots touch the gastrosteges. This figure is 
taken from a specimen in the Museum of the Phila- 
delphia Academy from southern Illinois. 

In Fig. 4 we have an individual from Elmira, IIli- 
nois, which illustrates the characters of the form co/- 
laris. Here the chevrons are distinct from the first 
dorsal spot, whose anterior black border forms a half 
collar on the neck. This specimen is instructive, as 
it displays the last connection between the chevron 
and the first spot, in a black line on each side. This 
is wanting in the typical ce/aris. 

The collar of ground color is complete in its an- 
terior border, as well as the posterior in the form ¢em- 
poralis (Fig. 5), owing to the disappearance of the 
chevron. ‘The transverse band on the prefrontals has 
also disappeared. The anterior extremity of the post- 
orbital stripe is cut off, and consists of a spot of ground 
color. The dorsal saddle spots are wider, reaching the 
gastrosteges, while the intermediate spots are exclu- 
sively gastrostegal. The spots whichealternate with 
them, have fused on the middle line. Fig. 5 is from 
a specimen from the State of Delaware. 

In subspecies do/iata the postocular stripe has dis- 
appeared, and the chevron:is replaced by a black patch 
on the parietal and temporal plates. In other respects 


34 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


i r) 
xX Se 
tear 


Osceola doliata collarts. 


Fig. 4. 


Osceola doliata temporalis, 


Fig. 5. 


ON VARIATION. 35 


this form is more like the form co//aris. The dorsal 
saddle spots are separated by a row or two of scales 
from the gastrosteges, and their alternating spots are 
partly on the scales. The ground color in this form, 
as in the zemporalis, approaches red. This is the form 
of the tier of states between latitude 4o° and the Gulf 
States. 

The subspecies sysfiJa is represented in Fig. 8. 
The head pattern is like that of doliata with the black 
patch more or less reduced—in the specimen figured 
being represented by a cross stripe. The dorsal saddle 
spots are more expanded than in any form yet encoun- 
tered, their lateral borders being completed below the 
scales and entirely on the gastrosteges. The alternate 
spots now meet and fuse on the middle line of the ab- 
domen, and the second series of alternating spots has 
disappeared. This is distinctively a southern form, 
extending west to central Oklahoma. 

The dorsal saddles are so far extended in the next 
subspecies, parallela, as to form two parallel stripes 
with a narrow strip of ground color between, on the 
middle line of the abdomen. The alternating spots 
have disappeared. In the specimen figured, which is 
from Florida, and is in the United States National 
Museum, the supraocular spots seen in /emforalis, are 
indicated. The ground color is red. Black begins to 
appear on the head. 

From the form syspz/a two types of color modifica- 
tion may be traced. One of these brings the borders 
of the saddle spots together on the median line, form- 
ing a median black stripe; this is the subspecies annw- 
Jata, which belongs to western Texas and the adjacent 
parts of Mexico. The top of the head is black (Fig. 
10). In the other, the lateral borders of the saddle 


36 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Figs. 6-7. Osceola doliata doliata, 


ON VARIATION. 37 


spots have disappeared altogether, so that the body is 
more or less completely encircled by pairs of black 
rings, the alternating spots having disappeared. This 
might be supposed to have resulted from a continua- 
tion of the process by which the alternating spots have 
disappeared, and the edges of the saddles been brought 
closer and closer together. The continued transverse 
extension of the spot color would finally obliterate the 
lateral borders completely, as actually occurs in this 
last form, the coccinea of authors, which is the com- 
mon type of the Gulf Coast. But the black has not 
covered the head and muzzle of this form as in the an- 
nulata. ‘These regions are on the contrary red, as is 
the spot color generally, while the ground color is pale 
yellow. 

A tendency to a development. of black pigment in 
the saddle spots is seen in two other forms. The sub- 
species gentilis resembles annulata, but has a black 
longitudinal dorsal band which divides each saddle 
spot in two equal halves. This is a rare form, only 
known from the Indian Territory. The common Mex- 
ican form (folyzona) has the paired rings of coccinea, 
the black head of annulata, but each scale of the red 
intervals is tipped with black. 

The relations of these forms may be expressed ina 
tabular form, given on page 39. 

The main series corresponds with a distribution in 
latitude, commencing with the ¢riangula of New Eng- 
land and New York, and passing gradually to the coc- 
cinea of the Gulf Coast regions, and Jolyzona of Mex- 
ico and Central America. The forms of the right-hand 
column are (except the paradllela) from the central 
warmer parts of the continent. 

This series of color-forms of the Osceola doliata 


38 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


a 


i» 


0, 


10, 


8 


Osceola doliata syspila. 


Fig. 8. 


PA 
este 


Sa 


Osceola doliata parallela, 


Fig. 9. 


ON VARIATION. 39 


demonstrates the following points. First: the color- 
variation is determinate and not indeterminate. It 
consists in, a, the successive enlargement of the dorsal 
spots toward, to, and across, the belly; 4, the diminu- 
tion and extinction of the longitudinal stripes on the 
head ; ¢, do. of the spots of the inferior surface of the 
body; @, in the increase of red in the color of the 
dorsal spots, coincidentally with the changes men- 
tioned. Second: these color-changes follow parallels 


gentilis 
polyzona 

annulata 
conjuncta 

parallela 
coccinea 


syspila / 


doliata 


“~~_temporalis 


collaris 
clerica 
triangula 


of latitude, the red color and accompanying changes 
developing from north to south. Third: so far as re- 
gards eastern North America, there is a diminution of 
size in passing from north to south; the O. @. coccinea 
being the smallest of the subspecies. In Mexico, the 
size is recovered, as the O. @. polyzona equals in di- 
mensions the O. d. triangula. 

The young of the northern O. d. ¢riangula pre- 
sents the colors of the dorsal spots nearly as brilliant 
as those of the southern O. d. coccinea, and they fade 


40 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Be 
e: 


my 


9, 


CoN 
™~ 


Fig. 10. Osceola doliata annulata. 


Osceola doliata coccinea, 


Fig. 11. 


ON VARIATION. 41 


with age to the adult character. The pattern in the 
young at the period of hatching is the same as that of 
the adult. 


¢. Color-Variations in Cnemidophorus. 


Another illustration of the nature of color-variation 
is to be found in certain species of the lacertilian gen- 
era Cnemidophorus in America, and Lacerta in Eu- 
rope. In both genera the color-markings differ in the 
same individual at different ages, and the age at which 
the acult coloration ds assumed, differs in different lo- 
calities. Some of the species, e. g., Cnemidophorus 
sexlineatus, never abandon the coloration of the young 
of other species and subspecies. The same condition 
is characteristic of the C. deppet of Mexico, the C. Zem- 
niscatus of Brazil, and other.species. - The process of 
color-modification in the C. Zessellatus and C. gudaris 
of North America is, as J have pointed out,! as follows: 
The young are longitudinally striped with from two to 
four stripes on each side of the middle line. With in- 
creasing age, light spots appear between the stripes 
in the dark interspaces. Ina later stage these spots 
increase in transverse diameter, breaking up the dark 
bands into spots. In some of the forms these dark 
spots extend themselves transversely and unite with 
each other, forming black cross-stripes of greater or 
less length. Thus we have before us the process by 
which a longitudinally striped coloration i is transformed 
into a transversely striped one. 

The large number of specimens of the C. ¢essellatus 
and C gularis in the National Museum collection show 
that the breaking up of the striped coloration appears 


1 Proceeds.. Amer. Philos, Soc., 1885, p. 283. Transac, Amer, Philos. Soc 
1892, p. 27. 


42, PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


=i) esemmanlly 
Pepcid 
Om 


‘C131 


*snqvpjassaz snaoygopruauy ‘y-p 


ON VARIATION. 43 


first at the posterior part of the dorsal region (i. e., the 
sacral and lumbar). The confluence of the spots ap- 


2 

& 

= 

z 

° 

be 

s 

8 

- oR 

BASES be 

ay Aan yy 
TU hy aleeatetes r af 
A 

Rs 

pb 

ro 


pears there first; and finally (C. gularis semifasciatus), 
where the color markings disappear, leaving a uniform 
hue, this also appears first at the posterior part of the 


44 


Fr 31g 


*$2]DANUL DILIIVT 


PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


MBARBRRKTS 
eee ae 
<3 


SoS rrs 
— 


ON VARIATION. 45 


body. In the C. ¢essellatus rubidus the dark spots dis- 
appear first on the anterior regions. 

According to Eimer,! among many color-variations 
of the Lacerta muralis there exists a series of types 
closely similar to those observed by me to characterize 
the two species of Cnemidophorus mentioned. I give 
figures of these series in all three species. It will be 
observed that in the second and third forms (B and C) 
of the Z. muralis, the pale portions of the dark stripes 
do not assume the very light hue of the ground color 
as they do in the corresponding phase of the Cnemido- 
phorus tessellatus (C and D, Fig. 12), but this interme- 
diate condition is exactly paralleled by the subspecies 
mariarum of the Cnemidophorus gularis. The corre- 
spondences are represented in the table on page 46. 

There are some color forms in the Lacerta muralis 
which are not repeated in the North American Cnemi- 
dophori, particularly those which result in a strong 
contrast between the dorsal colors as a whole and the 
darker lateral colors, as a band. The color variety, 
No. 7, of the Cnemidophori is not reported by Eimer 
as occurring in the Lacerta murals. 

The variations from one to four form a direct series, 
and so do those represented by Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 5. 
Such variations cannot be regarded as promiscuous, 
especially when the same process of change is to be 
observed in three different species, one of which in- 
habits a continent remote from the other two. 


@. Variations in North American Birds.and Mammals in 
Relation to Locality. 


The distinguished zodlogist, Dr. J. A. Allen of New 
York, has made a thorough study of this subject with 


Lrchiv fir Naturgeschichte, 1881, p. 239. 


46 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Cnem. tessellatus, 


Cnem. gularis, 


Other Cnemidoph't. 


Lacerta muralis, 


Longitudinally striped. . 


Dark interspaces pale spotted ..... 


Dark interspaces divided by light 
ColOM seine ees 


Dark spots confluent transversely, 


forming crossbars.............. 


Light spots not confluent; light 
stripes broken up; pattern reticu- 
Tated a sicaire oones 


Dark stripes interrupted by darker 
color. ..... 


Dark spots separate and on a brown 


PToUNd sas chee pede hada nian 


C. t. perplexus. 


C. t. tessellatus a. 


C. t. tessellatus B. 


C. t. tessellatus y. 


(orm 


thus. 


melanoste- 


C. t. rubidus, 


C g. gularis a. 


C. g. scalaris a. 


C. g. scataris B. 
C. g. 


&. costatus, 


C. t, mariarum., 


C. g. semifasciatus, 


C. octolineatus. 
C. sexlineatus. 


C. labialis, 
C. septemvitiatus. 


C. grahamit. 


C. variolosus. 


L. m, campestris. 


L. m, albiventris. 
Lm, striatomacu- 
Zata, 


L. m.veticulata. 
Lim, tigris, 


L. m, punctulato- 
SJasctata. 


L. m. maculostri- 


aa, 


ON VARIATION. 47 


ample material at his disposal. Following lines al- 
ready laid down by Prof. Spencer F. Baird, Dr. Allen 
has shown that variations in form, size, and color are 
directly related to latitude, and that they are not pro- 
miscuous or multifarious, but are definite and graded. 
I make the following extract from a summary of the 
subject published by him in The Radical Review (New 
Bedford, Mass.) for May, 1877: 

‘¢Geographical variation, as exhibited by the mam- 
mals and birds of North America, may be summarized 
under the following heads, namely: (1) variation in 
general size, (2) in the size of peripheral parts, and 
(3) in color; the latter being subdivisible into (a) vari- 
ation in color with latitude, and (4) with longitude. 
As arule, the mammals and birds of North America 
increase in size from the south northward. This is 
true, not only of the individual representatives of each 
species, but generally the largest species of each genus 
and family are northern. There are, however, some 
strongly marked exceptions, in which the increase in 
size is in the opposite direction, or southward. There 
is for this an obvious explanation, as will be presently 
shown ; the increase being found to be almost invari- 
ably toward the region where the type or group to 
which the species belongs receives its greatest numer- 
ical development, and where the species are also most 
specialized. Hence the representatives of a given spe- 
cies increase in size toward its hypothetical center of 
distribution, which is in most cases doubtless also its 
original center of dispersal. Consequently there is fre- 
quently a double decadence in size within specific 
groups, and both in size, and numerically in the case of 
species, when the center of development of the group 
to which they belong is in the warm-temperate or trop- 


48 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


ical regions. This may be illustrated by reference to 
the distribution of the higher classes of vertebrates in 
North America. Among the species occurring north of 
Mexico there are very few that may not be supposed to 
have had a northern origin; and the fact that some 
are circumpolar in their distribution, while most of the 
others (especially among the mammals) have congeneric 
Old World allies further strengthens the theory of their 
northern origin. Not only do individuals of the same 
species increase in size toward the north, but the same 
is true of the species of different genera. Again, in 
the exceptional cases of increase in size southward, the 
species belong to southern types, or, more correctly, 
to types having their center of development within or 
near the intertropical regions, where occur, not only the 
greatest number of the specific representatives of the 
type, but also the largest. 

‘‘For more detailed illustration we may take three 
families of the North American Carnivora; namely, 
the Canidz (wolves and foxes), the Felide (lynxes 
and wild cats), and the Procyonide (raccoons). The 
first two are to some extent cosmopolitan, while the 
third is strictly American. The Canide have their 
largest specific representatives, the world over, in the 
temperate or colder latitudes. In North America the 
family is represented by six species,! the smallest of 
which (speaking generally) are southern, and the larg- 
est northern. Four of them are among the most widely 
distributed of North American mammals, two (the 
gray wolf and the common fox) being circumpolar spe- 
cies ; another (the Arctic fox) is also circumpolar, but 


1 The gray wolf (Canzs Zupus), the coyote (C. latrans), the Arctic fox (Vud- 
pes lagopus), the common fox (l, alopfex), the kit fox (V. velox), and the gray 
fox (V7. cinereoargentatus), 


ON VARIATION. 49 


is confined to high latitudes. The three widest-rang- 
ing species (the gray wolf, the common fox, and the 
gray fox) are those which present the most marked 
variation in size. Taking the skull as the basis of 
comparison, it is found that the common wolf is fully 
one-fifth larger in the northern parts of British Amer- 
ica and Alaska than it is in Northern Mexico, where it 
finds the southern limit of its habitat. Between the 
largest northern skull and the largest southern skull 
there is a difference of about thirty-five per cent. of the 
mean size’ Specimens from the intermediate region 
show a gradual intergradation between these extremes, 
although many of the examples from the upper Mis- 
souri country are nearly as large as those from the ex- 
treme North. 

«©The common fox, though occurring as far north 
as the wolf, is much more restricted in its southward 
range, especially along the Atlantic coast, and presents 
a correspondingly smaller amount of variation in size. 
The Alaskan animal, however, averages about one- 
tenth larger than the average size of specimens from 
New England. In the gray fox, whose habitat ex- 
tends from Pennsylvania southward to Yucatan, the 
average length of the skull decreases from about five 
inches in Pennsylvania to considerably less than four 
in Central America—a difference equal to about thirty 
per cent. of the mean size for the species. 

«The Felide, unlike the Canidz, reach their great- 
est development, as respects both the number and 
the size of the species, in the intertropical regions. 
This family has but a single typical representative— 
the panther (Fe/s concolor)—north of Mexico, and this 
ranges only to about the northern boundary ot the 
United States. The other North American represen- 


50 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


tatives of the family are the lynxes, which, in some of 
their varieties, range from Alaska to Mexico. They 
form, however, the most northern, as well as the most 
specialized or ‘aberrant,’ type of the family. While 
they vary greatly in color, as well as in the length and 
texture of the pelage, at different localities, they afford 
a most remarkable exception to all laws of variation in 
size with locality; for a large series of skulls, repre- 
senting localities as widely separated as Louisiana, 
Northern Mexico, and California, on the one hand, and 
Alaska and the Mackenzie River district on the other, 
as well as various intermediate localities, reveals no ap- 
preciable difference in size throughout this wide area. 
The true cats, however, as the panther and the ocelots, 
are found to greatly increase in size southward, or to- 
ward the metropolis of the family. The panther ranges 
from the Northern States southward over most of 
South America. Skulls from the Adirondack region of 
New York have an average length of about seven and 
a half inches, the length increasing to eight and three- 
quarters in Louisiana and Texas, from beyond which 
points there is lack of data. The ocelot (Felis parda- 
Zs) finds its northern limit near the Rio Grande of 
Texas, and ranges thence southward far into South 
America. The average size of Costa Rican examples 
is about one-fifth greater than that of specimens from 
the Rio Grande. 

Instances of increase in size northward among the 
Carnivora of North America are so generally the rule 
that further space need not be taken in recounting ex- 
amples in detail. It may suffice to state that the 
badger (Zaxidea americana), the marten (Mustela ame- 
ricana), the fisher (AZ. pennanti), the wolverine (Guo 
luscus), and the ermine (Putorius ermineus)—all north- 


ON VARIATION. 51 


ern types—afford examples of variations in size strictly 
parallel with that already noticed 4s occurring in the 
foxes and wolves. 

“¢To refer briefly to other groups, it may be stated 
that the Cervidz (deer family) are mainly rather north- 
ern in their distribution; that the largest species occur 
in the colder zones, and that individuals of the same 
species increase rapidly in size toward the north. 
Some of the species, in fact, afford some of the most 
striking instances of northward increase in size; among 
which are the Virginia deer and its several representa- 
tives in the interior of the continent and on the Pacific 
Slope. It is also noteworthy that the most obviously 
distinctive characteristic of the group—the large, an- 
nually deciduous antlers—reaches its greatest devel- 
opment at the northward. Thus all the northern spe- 
cies, as the moose, the elk, and the caribou, have 
branching antlers of immense size, while the antlers 
are relatively much smaller in the species inhabiting 
the middle region of the continent, and are reduced to 
arudimentary condition—a simple, slender, sharp spike, 
or a small and singly forked one—in the tropical spe- 
cies; the antlers declining in size much more rapidly 
than the general size of the animal. This is true in 
individuals of the same species as well as of the species 
collectively. 

“The Glires (the squirrels, marmots, spermophiles 
mice, and their affines) offer the same illustrations in 
respect to the law of increase in size as the species 
already mentioned, the size sometimes increasing to 
the southward, but more generally to the northward, 
since the greater number of the species belong decid- 
edly to northern types. There is no more striking in- 
stance known among mammals of variation in size 


52 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


with locality than that afforded by the flying squirrels, 
in which the northern race is more than one-half larger 
than the southern; yet the two extremes are found to 
pass so gradually the one into the other, that it is 
hardly possible to define even a southern and a north- 
ern geographical race, except on the almost wholly 
arbitrary ground of difference in size. The species, 
moreover, is one of the most widely distributed, rang- 
ing from the Arctic regions (the northern limit of for- 
ests) to Central America. 

“Among birds the local differences in size are al- 
most as strongly marked as among mammals, and in 
the main, follow the same general law. A decided 
increase in size southward, however, or toward the 
warmer latitudes, occurs more rarely than in mam- 
mals, although several well-marked instances are 
known. The increase is generally northward, and is 
often very strongly marked. The greatest difference 
between northern and southern races occurs, as in 
mammals, in the species whose breeding-stations em- 
brace a wide range of latitude. In species which breed 
from Northern New England to Florida, the southern 
forms are not only smaller, but are also quite different 
in color and in other features. This is eminently the 
case in the common quail (Ortyx virginianus), the 
meadow-lark (Sturnella magna), the purple grackle 
(Quiscalus purpureus), the red-winged blackbird (Age- 
lacus phaeniceus), the golden-winged woodpecker (Co- 
laptes auratus), the towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus), 
the Carolina dove (Zenadura macrura), and in nu- 
merous other species ; and is quite appreciable in the 
blue-jay (Cyanurus cristatus), the crow (Corvus amert- 
canus), in most of the woodpeckers, in the titmice, 
numerous sparrows, and several thrushes and war- 


ON VARIATION. 53 


blers, the variation often amounting to from ten to 
fifteen per cent. of the average size of the species. 

‘‘As a general rule, certain parts of the organisms 
vary more than does general size, there being a marked 
tendency to enlargement of peripheral parts under 
high temperature, or toward the tropics,—hence south- 
ward in North America. This is more readily seen in 
birds than in mammals, in consequence, mainly, of 
their peculiar type of structure. In mammals it is 
manifested occasionally in the size of the ears and feet, 
and in the horns of bovines, but especially and more 
generally in the pelage. At the northward, in individ- 
uals of the same species, the hairs are longer and 
softer, the under fur more abundant, and the ears and 
the soles of the feet better clothed. This is not only 
true of individuals of the same species, but of northern 
species collectively as compared with their nearest 
southern allies. Southern individuals retain perma- 
nently, in many cases, the sparsely clothed ears and 
the naked soles that characterize northern individuals 
only in summer, as is notably the case among the dif- 
ferent squirrels and sphermophiles. 

‘¢In mammals which have the external ear largely 
developed—as in the wolves, foxes, some of the deer, 
and especially the hares,—the larger size of this organ 
in southern as compared with northern individuals of 
the same species is often strikingly apparent. It is 
more especially marked, however, in species inhabit- 
ing extensive open plains and semi-desert regions. 
The little wood hare, or gray rabbit (Lepus sylvaticus), 
affords a case in point. This species is represented, 
in some of its varieties, across the whole breadth of 
the continent, and from the northern border of the 
United States southward to Central America, but in 


54 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


different regions by geographical races or subspecies. 
In addition to certain differences of color and general 
size, the ears vary still more strongly. In the form 
inhabiting the Great Plains, commonly known as the 
little sage-brush hare (LZ. sylvaticus nuttall?), the ears 
are considerably longer than in the eastern variety, 
and increase in size from the north southward, reach- 
ing their greatest development in Western Arizona and 
the desert region further westward and southward, 
where the variety is characterized mainly by the large 
size of its ears, which are in this race nearly twice the 
size they attain in the eastern variety. In the long- 
eared ‘jackass’ hares of the plains, the ear likewise 
increases in size to the southward. In Lepus callotis, 
for example, which ranges from Wyoming southward 
far into Mexico, the ear is about one-fourth to one- 
third larger in the southern examples than in the north- 
ern. The little brown hare of the Pacific Coast (Z. 
trowbridge’) presents a similar increase in the size of 
the ear southward, as does, to a less extent, the prairie 
hare (LZ. campestris). Not only are all of the long- 
eared species of American hares confined to the open 
plains of the arid interior of the continent, but over 
this same region is the tendency to an enlargement of 
the ear southward stronger than elsewhere. It is also 
of interest in this connection that the largest-eared 
hares of the Old World occur over similar open, half- 
desert regions, as do also the largest-eared foxes. On 
our western plains, the deer are represented by a large- 
eared species. Among the domestic races of cattle, 
those of the warm temperate and intertropical regions 
have much larger and longer horns than those of north- 
ern countries ; as is shown by a comparison of the 
Texan, Mexican, and South American breeds, with 


ON VARIATION. 55 


the northern stock, or those of the South of Europe 
with the more northern races. In the wild species of 
the Old World, the southern or sub-tropical are re- 
markable for the large size of their horns. The horns 
of the American prong-horn (Antilocapra americana) are 
also much larger at southern than at northern locali- 
ties.! Naturalists have also recorded the existence of 
larger feet in many of the smaller North American 
Mammalia at the southward than at the northward, 
among individuals of the same species, especially 
among the wild mice, in some of the squirrels, the 
opossum and raccoon, as well as in other species. 
‘<In birds, the enlargement of peripheral parts, es- 
pecially of the bill, claws, and tail, is far more obvious 
and more general than in mammals. The bill is par- 
ticularly susceptible to variation in this regard,—in 
many instances being very much larger, among indi- 
viduals of unquestionably the same species, at the 
southward than at the northward. This accords with 
the general fact that all the ornithic types in which the 
bill is remarkably enlarged occur in the intertropical 
regions. The southward enlargement of the bill within 
specific groups may be illustrated by reference to al- 
most any group of North American birds, or to those 
of any portion of the continent. As in other features 
of geographical variation, the greatest differences in 
the size of the bill are met with among species having 
the widest distribution in latitude. Among the species 
inhabiting eastern North America we find several strik- 


1The deer tribe, in which the antlers increase in size toward the north, 
offer an apparent exception to the rule of increase in size of peripheral parts 
toward the tropics. The antlers of the deer, however, are merely seasonal 
appendages, being annually cast and renewed, and are thus entirely different 
physiologically from the horns of bovines, which retain a high degree of 
vitality throughout the life of the animal. 


56 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


ing examples of this enlargement among the sparrows, 
black-birds, thrushes, crows, wrens, and warblers, in 
the quail, the meadow-lark, the golden-winged wood- 
pecker, etc. Generally the bill, in the slender-billed 
forms, becomes longer, more attenuated, and more de- 
curved (in individuals specifically the same) in pass- 
ing from the New England States southward to Flo- 
rida, while in those which have a short, thick, conical 
bill there is a general increase in its size so that the 
southern representatives of a species, as a rule, have 
thicker and longer bills than their northern relatives, 
though the birds themselves are smaller. There is 
thus not only generally a relative, but often an abso- 
lute, increase in the size of the bill in the southern 
races. The species of the Pacific Coast and of the in- 
terior afford similar illustrations, in some cases more 
marked even than in any of the eastern species. More 
rarely, but still quite frequently, is there a similar in- 
crease in the size of the feet and claws. 

“The tail, also, affords an equally striking exam- 
ple of the enlargement of peripheral parts southward. 
Referring again to the birds of the Atlantic Coast, 
many of the above-named species have the tail abso- 
lutely longer at southern localities than at northern, 
and quite often relatively longer. Thus while the gen- 
eral size decreases, the length of the tail is wholly 
maintained, or decreases less than the general size; 
but, in some cases, while the general size is one-tenth 
or more smaller at the south, the tail is ten to fifteen 
per cent. longer than in the larger northern birds. 
Some western species are even more remarkable in 
this respect ; and in consequence mainly of this fact 
the southern types have been varietally separated from 
the shorter-tailed northern forms of the same species. 


ON VARIATION. 57 


‘«Variations in color with locality are still more ob- 
vious, particularly among birds, in which the colors 
are more positive, the contrasts of tints greater, and 
the markings consequently better defined than is usu- 
ally the case in mammals. The soft finely-divided 
covering of the latter is poorly fitted for the display 
of the delicate pencilings and the lustrous, prismatic 
hues that so often characterize birds. Mammals, how- 
ever, present many striking instances of geographical 
variation in color. 

“‘As already stated, geographical variations in color 
may be conveniently considered under two heads. 
While the variation with latitude consists mainly in a 
nearly uniform increase in one direction, the variation 
observed in passing from the Atlantic Coast westward 
is more complex. In either case, however, the varia- 
tion results primarily from nearly the same causes, 
which are obviously climatic, and depend mainly upon 
the relative humidity, or the hygrometric conditions 
of the different climatal areas of the continent. In re- 
spect to the first, or latitudinal variation, the tendency 
is always toward an increase in intensity of coloration 
southward. Not only do the primary colors become 
deepened in this direction, but dusky and blackish 
tints become stronger or more intense, iridescent hues 
become more lustrous, and dark markings, as spots 
and streaks or transverse bars, acquire greater area. 
Conversely, white or light markings become more re- 
stricted. In passing westward a general and gradual 
blanching of the colors is met with on leaving the 
wooded regions east of the Mississippi, the loss of 
color increasing with the increasing aridity of the cli- 
mate and the absence of forests, the greatest pallor 
occurring over the almost rainless and semi-desert re- 


58 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


gions of the Great Basin and Colorado Desert. On 
the Pacific Slope, north of California, the color again 
increases, with a tendency to heavy, sombre tints over 
the rainy, heavily-wooded region of the Northwest 
Coast.” 


2. VARIATION IN STRUCTURAL CHARACTERS. 


Modifications of structural characters may appear 
quite independently of variation of specific ones. In- 
deed, generic characters have at times changed 
completely without the appearance of corresponding 
changes in the more superficial characters which de- 
fine the species. Thus changes in the dentition of 
some of the Mammalia appear within the limits of 
species, which, should they become permanent, would 
entitle the two sets of individuals which display the 
different dentitions to be placed in different genera. 

Some striking examples of how generic characters 
may undergo metamorphosis without corresponding 
changes in specific characters, have been brought to 
light by Dr. William H. Dall among the Brachiopo- 
dous Mollusca. Some of the species of different gen- 
era can scarcely be distinguished, except by compari- 
son of their generic characters. I have cited the 
axolotls as illustrative of this phenomenon. Here the 
same species may reproduce as a permanent larva, or 
as an adult. Duméril has shown that the North Amer- 
ican salamander (Amélystoma tigrinum) can lay and 
fertilize eggs before the metamorphosis is passed. I 
have since observed that the females of the allied spe- 
cies of Amblystomide, the Chondrotus tenebrosus B. and 
G., of California contain mature eggs ready for de- 


1 The Radical Review, May, 1877. 


ON VARIATION. 59 


posit, and have supposed that this species has also the 
same power.! The difference between such larve and 
the adult which has passed the metamorphosis is great. 
It extends not merely to the branchial processes, but 
to the splenial teeth, which are shed, and to the palato- 
pterygoid arch, which is absorbed, and to the pos- 
terior ceratobranchial and epibranchial cartilages, which 
are absorbed. In the larva of the C. tenebrosus the 
palatopterygoid arches and epibranchials are ossified, 
so that the probability of its being able to maintain an 
independent existence as a larva is greater than in the 
case of the 4. tigrinum. In this type, then, each spe- 
cies displays variations concomitant with reproductive 
maturity, which are not only of generic, but of family 
significance. In a third species, the Sivedon mexica- 
num, no metamorphosis has yet been shown to take 
place, so that it is probable that it reproduces ordina- 
rily while in the branchiferous stage. Yet it is only 
specifically different from the larva of the Amélystoma 
tigrinum. 

Excellent illustrations of the serial appearance of 
generic characters may be seen in the family of the 
dogs (Canidae). In the true genus Canis, the dental 
formula is, I. 3; C.4; P. m. $; M.2. The inferior sec- 
torial (m. 1) has a metaconid, and the second inferior 
true molar has two roots. It not unfrequently hap- 
pens, however, that the last inferior molar (m. 3) is 
wanting; and in some cases the inferior m. 2 has but 
one root. When in addition to this, as in some of the 
black-and-tans, in the Mexican naked dog, and in the 
pug, the inferior m. 1 loses its metaconid, we have the 
genus Synagodus. Occasionally the pug dog, and fre- 
quently the Mexican dog, loses one of its premolars 


1Batrachia of North America, 1888, p. 113, Pl. xxii, xxiii, 


60 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


from both jaws. The Japanese spaniel goes still fur- 
ther, and usually loses also its second superior true 
molar and frequently another premolar from each jaw; 
and we then have a dentition which indicates a third 
genus, which has been called Dysodus. Its dental 
formula is I. 3; C.4; P.m. 2-8; m.4. Transitions 
between this and the normal dentition of Canis, in all 
respects can be found in the smaller domesticated 
dogs. And these modifications are not pathological, 
but simply express a rapid metamorphosis of the den- 
tition towards the reduced formula which is charac- 
teristic of the cats. And while the most characteristic 
dentitions belong to particular species (or races) of 
dogs, many of the single modifications are both absent 
and present in dogs of the same species or race. And 
these are the kind of characters which are observed 
to mark the slow progress during long geologic 
ages, of mammals of various other groups. These 
modifications are not promiscuous, but are in the di- 
rect line of change which has characterized all Mam- 
malia during geologic time; 1. e., the reduction of the 
numbers of the molar teeth. And in greater detail, 
the loss of metaconid of the inferior sectorial, and loss 
of posterior true molars, are the exact losses which the 
carnivorous type has undergone in the evolution of 
the cats. 

A significant modification of the third superior pre- 
molar has been observed by Dr. Horace Jayne to be 
occasionally met with in the domestic cat. Sometimes 
an internal cusp (deuterocone), with a corresponding 
root is developed, giving rise to a tritubercular crown. 

Similar observations have been made on the denti- 
tion of man, which presents two phenomena of varia- 
tion of opposite phylogenetic significance. I have 


ON VARIATION. 61 


shown! that most of the Indo-European race, together 
with the Esquimaux, present a reversion to a lemu- 
rine form in the second and third superior molars, and 
sometimes, in the case of the Esquimaux, in the first 
superior molar also. I have also shown,’ after a study 
of the dentition of the extinct Mammalia, that the more 
complex molars of later placental orders, have been 
derived from a tritubercular type, which prevailed 
throughout the earth just before the opening of the 
Eocene period. In the line of human and quadruma- 
nous phylogeny, the lemurs of the Eocene period pre- 
sented this type of molar in the upper jaw, and mostly 
continue to do so to the present time. The true mon- 
keys, however, added the fourth tubercle or hypocone, 
in accordance with the developmental law in Mamma- 
lia generally, and the apes and men of the lower races 
present the same characteristic. Now, in the yellow 
race the hypocone of the last molar is generally want- 
ing, while in the white race it is usual to find it absent 
from both the second and third molars. In this we 
have a case of reversion. 

The reduction of the third (last) superior molar, 
and of the inferior as well, has gone further in the 
white race, since the tooth is frequently abnormally 
small, abortive, or totally wanting. The external su- 
perior incisor has a similar history, although its reduc- 
tion and loss is not nearly so frequent as that of 
the last molars. These losses from the dental series 
are not of the nature of reversions, since the number 
of teeth is more and more numerous as we recede in 
time along the line of human ancestry. It is, on the 
contrary, the continuation of a process which has been, 


lLAmerican Journal of Morphology, 1888, p. 7. 
“2 American Naturalist, 1884, p. 350; Origin of the Fittest, 1887, p. 347. 


62 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


as already remarked, common to all the Mammalia, of 
reduction in the number of teeth. Thus men with fewer 
teeth are more advanced than those with more numer- 
ous ones; while people with tritubercular superior 
molars have reverted to an ancient type; and both re- 
sults are probably attained by the same physiologic 
process, i. e. defect of nutrition. It is to be remem- 
bered also, in connection with our argument, that these 
dental variations are modifications of generic charac- 
ters, and that they are in definite directions, and are 
not promiscuous. With regard to the question as to 
whether dental variations in man are promiscuous or 
not, we have better opportunities of investigation than 
in the case of the lower animals generally. It may be 
safely asserted that the dental variations above cited 
are by far the most frequent in man, and that all others 
put together are relatively insignificant. 


3. SUCCESSIONAL RELATION. 


As the biologic types are variations become perma- 
nent, it is important to examine how the former stand 
related to each other. These relations express the 
direction which variation has taken, and throw a great 
deal of light on the nature of the process. That exist- 
ing types of all grades are the result of the isolation of 
variations of species, is shown by the frequent exam- 
ples of incomplete isolation, which follows inconstancy 
of the definitive characters. Groups of individuals 
which display this partial isolation are termed sub- 
species. ; 

As an illustration of the mingling of isolated groups 
of individuals (species) with imperfectly isolated groups 
(subspecies), in a single genus, I refer to the American 


ON VARIATION. 63 


. 


garter-snake (genus Eutaenia B. andG.). An exami- 
nation of several hundred individuals of this genus 
yielded the following results: I found seventeen groups 
of individuals, which could be said to be completely 
isolated in characters, with very few exceptions. Eight 
other groups (species) are probably isolated, but they 
are not represented by a sufficiently large number of 
specimens to yield a satisfactory demonstration. Of 
the seventeen, four species embrace fifteen non-isolated 
geographical forms (subspecies), besides the typical 
forms (eight of which are included under the £. szrta- 
Zs); and two others include three color forms easily 
recognizable, besides the typical ones. Similar phe- 
nomena are presented in every part of the animal and 
vegetable kingdoms. 

One of the most instructive natural divisions for 
the study of taxonomic relations as the result of varia- 
tion, on account of the simplicity of the relations pre- 
sented, is the Batrachia Salientia, or the order of Ba- 
trachia to which belong the toads, frogs, etc. Omitting 
the very restricted suborders of the Aglossa and Gas- 
trechmia, the Batrachia Salientia fall into two divi- 
sions, which differ only in the structure of the lower 
portion of their scapular arch, or shoulder-girdle. In 
the one the opposite halves are capable of movements 
which contract or expand the capacity of the thorax ; 
in the other the opposite halves abut against each 
other so as to be incapable of movement, thus pre- 
serving the size of the thoracic cavity. But during the 
early stages, the frogs of this division have the mova- 
ble shoulder-girdle which characterizes those of the 
other division, the consolidation constituting a modifi- 
cation superadded in attaining maturity. Further- 
more, young Salientia are toothless, and one section of 


64 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


the species with embryonic shoulder-girdle never ac- 
quire teeth. The suborder with embryonic shoulder- 
girdle is called the Arcifera, and that which is ad- 
vanced in this respect is the /irmisternia. Now the 
frogs of each of these divisions present nearly similar 
scales of development of another part of the skeleton, 
viz., the bones of the top of the skull. We find some 
in which one of these bones (ethmoid) is represented 


Fig. 16. 


SHOULDER-GIRDLES OF ‘‘ANURA."' 


Fig. 15.—Of the Arciferous type (Phyllomedusa bicolor), Fig. 16, Rana 
temporaria, tadpole with budding limbs. Fig. 17, do., adult. Figs. 16 and 17 
from Parker. 


by cartilage only, and the frontoparietals and nasals 
are represented by only a narrow strip of bone each. 
In the next type the ethmoid is ossified; in the next, 
we have the frontoparietal completely ossified, and the 
nasals range from narrow strips to complete roofs; in 
the fourth station on the line, these bones are rough, 
with a hyperostosis of their surfaces ; and in the next 
set of species this ossification fills the skin, which is 
thus no longer separable from the cranial bones ; in 


ON VARIATION. 65 


the sixth form the ossification is extended so as to roof 
in the temporal muscles and inclose the orbits behind, 
while in the rare seventh and last stage, the tympanum 
is also inclosed behind by bone. Now all of these 
types are not found in all of the families of the Saden- 
tia, but the greater number of them are. Six principal 
families, four of which belong to the Arcifera, are 
named in the diagram below, and three or four others 
might have been added. I do not give the names of 
the genera which are defined as above described, re- 
ferring to the explanation of the cuts for them, but in- 
dicate them by the numbers attached in the plate, 
which correspond to those of the definitions above 
given. A zero mark signifies the absence or non-dis- 
covery of a generic type. 


Sternum embryonic. Arcifera. Sternum_ complete 


Toothless. Toothed. Firmisternia. 


Bufonide. Scaphiopide. Cystignathide. Hylide. Ranidz. 


= T oO I I oO 
2— S 2 2 Oo 
3— 3 ° 3 3 3 
4— 4 4 4 4 4 
5— 5 5 o 5 5 
6— 6 6 6 6 6 
I— 7 fo) ° ° ° 


It is evident, ‘from what has preceded, that a per- 
fecting of the shoulder-girdle in any of the species of 
the arciferous columns would place it in the series of 
Firmisternia. An accession of teeth in a species of the 
division Bufonide would make it one of the Scaphiopide; 
while a small amount of change in the ossification of 
the bones of the skull would transfer a species from 
one to another of the generic stations represented. by 
the numbers of the columns from one to seven. 


Fig. 18. Fig. 19. 
SCAPHIOPIDA AND PELOBATID. 


BuFONID. 


Fig. 22. 


Fig. 21. 
CYSTIGNATHIDE. 


Fig. 20, 
Hy.ip2. 


RANIDA. 


68 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


That the above generic divisions have been actually 
developed from each other is demonstrated by the oc- 
currence of occasional intermediate forms. Thus no 
generic distinction can be maintained between types 
third and fourth in the family of toads (Bufonidz), so 
complete is the transition between them. In Hylide 
and Cystignathide occasional transitions between types 
second and third occur. In the Scaphiopide the sub- 
species Spea hammondii intermontana sometimes has the 
frontoparietal fontanelle open, sometimes closed. I 
have seen some adult specimens of Rana virescens au- 
stricola from Central America with the ethmoid bone 
unossified above, as in the genus Ranula. The rugose 
cranium is only acquired in old age of some of the spe- 
cies of Polypedates of India. Yet these genera are as 


EXPLANATION OF CUTS OF CRANIA OF SALIENTIA. 


The numbers in each column correspond with the types of ossification 
mentioned in the text, and are the same as those in the table of families given 
in the same connection. The power numbers attached to No. 4, represent the 
degree of ossification of the nasal bone, except —1, which signifies unossified 
ethmoid, Most of the cuts are original 

Fig. 18.—Buronip#.—No. 1, anterior part of skull of Chelydobatrachus 
gouldiz Gray, from Australia. No. 4, do. of Schismaderma carens Smith, South 
Africa. No.5, top of head of Peltaphryne peltacephala D. and B., Cuba. No. 
7, top of head of Ofasfis empusa Cope, Cuba. 

Fig. 19.—ScAPHIOPID# AND PELOBATID#£.—No. 2, diagram of top of cranium 
of Didocus calcaratus Micahelles, Spain. No. 5, skull of Scaphiopus holbrookti 
Harl., United States. No.6, skull of Cultr7pes provincialzs, from France, after 
Dugés. 

Fig. 20.—Hy.tip&.—No. 1, Thoropa miliaris Spix., Brazil. No. 2, Hypsi- 
boas doumercit D.and B., Surinam. No, 21, Hypszboas punctatus Schn., Brazil. 
No. 44, Scytopis venulosus Daudin, Brazil. No. 5, Osteocephalus planiceps Cope, 
E. Peru. No.6, Trachycephalus geographicus D. and B., after Steindachner. 

Fig. 21.--CySTIGNATHID2.—No. 1, Eusophus nebulosus Gir., Chili. No. 2, 
Borborocetes tasmantensis Gthr., Tasmania. No.3, Zlosda nasus Licht., Bra- 
zil, No. 4, Hylodes oxyrhynchus D, and B., West Indies. No. 6, Calyptocepha- 
lus gay? D. and B., Chili. 

Fig. 22. Ranip&.—No. 4-1, Ranula chrysoprasina Cope, Costa Rica. No. 
41, Rana clamata Daud.,N. America. No. 42, Rana agilis Thomas, Europe. 
No. 43, Rana hexadactyla Less., India. No.5, Polyfedates guadrilineatus D. 
and B., Ceylon. 


ON VARIATION. 69 


well defined as closely allied genera in most natural 
divisions. 

It is seldom that so many stages of developmental 
series survive so as to be contemporaries, as in this 
case of the Batrachia Salientia. In order to obtain 
such series we usually have to explore the ages of the 
past. Inthe higher groups this is also the case, but 
here we have also occasional examples of the persis- 
tence of fairly complete series. Such a one is pre- 
sented by the suborder Artiodactyla of the Diplarth- 
rous Ungulate Mammalia. I give the definitions of 
the succession of the existing families. 


I. Molars bunodont (tubercular) ; superior incisors generally pres- 
ent. Nocannon or naviculocuboid bones. : 
Lateral toes well developed ; Hippopotamide. 
Lateral toes rudimental ; Suide, 
II. Molars selenodont (crescent-bearing). (Lateral toes rudimental 
or wanting). 
A. Premolars with one row of lobes. 
No naviculocuboid bone ; one superior incisor; a can- 


non bone ; Camelide, 
A naviculocuboid bone; no superior incisor; (cannon 
bone variable) ; Tragulide. 


AA. Premolars with two rows of tubercles ; a naviculocuboid 
and cannon bones; no incisors above. 
Premolar iii with only one row of lobes; canine teeth, 


no horns; Moschide. 
Premolar iii with two rows of lobes; fixed horns; no 
canines above ; Bovide. 
Premolar iii with two rows of lobes; horns decidu- 
ous; Cervide. 


In this suborder we see a gradual complication of 
the structure of the molar teeth, and a loss of the in- 
cisors. In the limbs we observe the successive loss of 
the lateral digits, and the fusion of elements,—as the 
metapodials into cannon bones, and the elements of 


yo PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


the tarsus, and, what is not stated in the above table, 
of the carpus also. Finally there is the remarkable 
development of horns on the head. When we come 
to examine the phylogeny of this order we will find 
how completely these characters are the result of the 
fixation of variations which have appeared in past geo- 
logic ages, and how various are the combinations and 
modifications presented by the extinct types. 

Few natural groups permit of representation of 
their subdivisions in linear series. The only correct 
representation is in the form of a branching tree, and 
this cannot be well done in flat projection on the pages 
of a book. Each branch taken by itself, however, 
yields itself for a longer or shorter space to linear 
treatment. 

For an example of such linear series in higher 
groups I turn again to the Batrachia Salientia. Here 
the two suborders of the Arcifera and Firmisternia pre- 
sent the following interesting parallels: 


ARCIFERA. FIRMISTERNIA 
I. Without teeth. 


a. With sacral diapophyses dilated. 


Brevicipitide. 
Butonidey. + sasvingsetve ss edas soe Meee Reese Engystomidz. 
Phryniscide. 
aa, Sacral diapophyses cylindric. 
Dendrophryniscidze. ......... 00. e cee eee eee ee Dendrobatidze 


II. With premaxillary and maxillary teeth only. 
«. With sacral diapophyses dilated. 


Pelodytidze Dyscophidz. 
Pelobatide ee Co h lide 
Hylide ee 
aa, With sacral diapophyses cylindric. 
Cystignathide............ 0. ccc c cc ceeeccenoes Eelostetinds: 
Ranide. 


ON VARIATION. 71 


III. Teeth in both jaws. 


a, Sacral diapophyses not dilated. 
Amphignathodontidz } 


tics Gan meena Ceratobatrachide.” 
Hemiphractide ..... Bocas tp Oo 


In strict reference to the structure of the hind feet 
the following parallels may be drawn: 


FIRMISTERNIA. RAnIDé. ARCIFERA. 
External metatarsal free : 
Aquatic. Rana. Pseudis. 
Subfossorial. Hoplobatrachus. Mixophyes. 


External metatarsal attached : 
Feet webbed— 


Burrowing. Pyxicephalus. Ceratophrys. 
Arboreal (vom. teeth). Leptopelis. Hyla. 
Arboreal (no v. teeth). Hyperolius. Hylella. 
Aquatic. Heteroglossa. Acris. 

Feet not webbed— 
Terrestrial. Cassina. 4 Cystignathus. 
Terrestrial, spurred. Hemimantis. Paludicola. 


Parallel series like those of the Arcifera and Fir- 
misternia I have termed ‘‘ homologous,” and the cor- 
responding terms of such series I have called ‘‘ hete- 
rologous.”! Such corresponding phylogenetic series 
are homologous to each other, while their terms or 
genera are heterologous in their relation to correspond- 
ing terms of other phyla. In such cases the genera or 
terms of a series owe their resemblances to each other 
to inheritance; but they owe their resemblances to 
their corresponding or heterologous genera, to identi- 
cal evolutionary influences. Subsequently to my pro- 
posal to use the above terms, Prof. E. R. Lankester 
proposed the word ‘‘homogenous” to express what is 
conveyed by my term homologous, and ‘‘homoplastic” 
to express the sense of heterologous. For the two con- 


1“ Origin of Genera,” Proceedings Philadelphia Academy, 1868, p. 281. 


72, PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


ditions he coined the words ‘‘homogeny ” and ‘‘ho- 
moplassy.” The terms introduced by Lankester differ 
from mine in that they convey implications as to the 
origin of the respective conditions. 


AY 


Anant 


Fig. 23.—Feet of (1-2) Uma scoparia Cope, from near Tucson, Arizona, 
and (2-3) Plenopus garrudus Smith, from South Africa. No. 1, manus; No. 2, 
pes; Nos. 3-4, pes. Nos, 1-2, original; Nos. 3-4, from Boulenger. 

An illustration of homoplassy is to be seen in the 
spines on the head, tail, and feet of lizards which in- 
habit desert regions. The parallelism between Phry- 
nosoma of the American dry regions, and the Moloch 
of the corresponding climates of Australia has been 


ON VARIATION. 73 


already noted. In the deserts of Asia, South Africa, 
and North America some of the lizards exhibit a great 
elongation of the lateral scales of the digits on one or 
both extremities. These become fringes of spines, 
freely articulated at their bases with the integument. 
By penetrating the sand, they increase the hold on its 
yielding surface, and greatly improve the speed of 
their movements. The genera in which this structure 
is conspicuous in the three localities in question, be- 
long to as many distinct families. Thus in Asia it is 
the genus Phrynocephalus of the family Agamidez; in 
South Africa it is Ptenopus of the Gecconide; while 
in North America it is Uma of the Iguanide. I give 
figures of the feet of Ptenopus and Uma for comparison. 
(Fig. 23.) Phrynocephalus is more like Uma than is 
Ptenopus. 

In the succeeding chapters of this book many illus- 
trations of the serial relation of characters will be 
given, so that it is not necessary to occupy more space 
with the subject here. 


CHAPTER II.—PHYLOGENY. 


1. GENERAL PHYLOGENY. 


HE actual phylogeny or genealogy of organisms 
can only be positively determined by paleonto- 
logic research. We have been able in this way to ob- 
tain numerous lines of descent of animals and some 
general results as to the genealogic relations of the 
primary types of animals and plants. Many forms of 
both animals and plants are and have been without 
those hard parts which are susceptible of preservation 
in the formations of the earth’s crust, so that no trace 
of their existence remains to us. In these cases our 
resort is embryologic investigation, since the embry- 
onic history is a more or less complete recapitulation 
of the types of the past ages, from which the existing 
ones are descended. But since many representatives 
of the ancient and primitive forms of life still remain 
on the earth, we can trace, by the study of their struc- 
ture, the larger features of general phylogeny. So far 
as we have compared the results derived from these 
three lines, it has been found that they coincide in 
their indications. We have in this a satisfactory proof 
that our conclusions are trustworthy contributions to 
the knowledge of the history of life. 
The study of phylogeny shows that the evolution 


PHYLOGENY. 75 


of life-forms has been from the simple to the complex, 
and from the generalized to the specialized. These 
two forms of expression are not identical. In the 
phrase, ‘‘from the simple to the complex,” is implied 
an ascending scale of evolution. In the phrase, ‘from 
the generalized to the specialized,” we may include 
both progressive and retrogressive evolution. Retro- 
gressive or degenerative evolution has been a frequent 
phenomenon in the past, and scarcely an organism ex- 
ists which does not display degeneracy in some detail of 
its structure. Progressive evolution has, however, not 
been prevented by the frequent occurrence of an op- 
posite process; and, indeed, degeneracy of parts, or of 
types of life, have been necessary to the advance of 
other and better organs or forms. 

It is necessary to an understanding of the laws of 
evolution to get beforehand some idea of what that 
evolution has actually been. I will, therefore, give a 
general outline of the phylogeny of plants and animals, 
and will thus illustrate the subject in full detail in the 
case of the Vertebrata, where our facilities are espe- 
cially good. 

It is well known that the Protophyta and the Pro- 
tozoa are not distinguishable by any sharp line of de- 
marcation. Chlorophyll, which is so characteristic of 
plants, is absent from many of the lowest forms, in- 
cluding the entire class of Fungi, while it is present 
in a few of the lowest animals. The capacity for mo- 
tion from place to place, so general in animals, at 
least in their earlier stages, is present in the earlier 
stages of some of the Alge, and is universal, except at 
the period of reproduction, in the Myxomycetes. If it 
be denied that the latter are plants, then they are ani- 
mals which do not reproduce by the ordinary process 


76 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


of fission, but by spores, which are borne together in 
a mass, or in a sporangium distinguished from the rest 
of the body. A distinction between the lower animals 
and plants is that the former introduce their food at a 
definite, though it may be a variable, point of the body; 
while plants absorb their nutriment in solution at all 
points. It is however demonstrated that some animals 
(many parasites) nourish themselves in the same man- 
ner as do plants; and in their early stages the Myxo- 
mycetes have the feeding habit of the lowest animals 
(Ameebz). Both animals and plants from a morpho- 
logical point of view have a common origin, in a nucle- 
ated, undivided, more or less globular piece of proto- 
plasm or sarcode. 

From freely moving Protophyta of this form, the 
vegetable kingdom took its rise. They first of all as- 
sumed a sessile position on the earth, and became 
what one may call earth-parasites. This abandonment 
of free mobility we cannot hesitate to regard as the 
efficient cause of a degenerate line of evolution. There 
can be no doubt about this, since fixity of habitat at once 
limits enormously the range of active influences which 
tend to modify an organism, whether they proceed 
from within it or from without it. The subsequent 
inclosure of the protoplasm in a structure of cellulose 
removes them from many of the stimuli which have so 
potent an influence in the life-history of animals, and 
the storage of other substances, as proteids, gums, 
resins, etc., in their cells, still further emphasizes the 
distinction. 

From this beginning, progress in plants is seen 
chiefly in the modifications of their methods of repro- 
duction. This function is the aim of the vegetable 
kingdom so far as their own condition is concerned. 


PHYLOGENY. 77 


Incidentally they are, however, essential to the exist- 
ence of the animal kingdom, since they alone elaborate 
protoplasm and ‘proteids from inorganic nature. In 
the simplest plants there is no sexuality, and repro- 
duction is effected by spores which are mere fragments 
of the parental protoplasm (Protophyta). In the next 
stage sexual conjugation is necessary, but the sexes 
do not differ from each other in characters (Zygo- 
phyta). In the third stage (Odphyta) the sexes are 
distinct, and the reproductive elements are distin- 
guished as female germ-cell and male antheridium. 
In the remaining types of plants a distinct set of indi- 
viduals, the prothallia, is produced by cell-division, 
whose function is sexual reproduction, thus constitut- 
ing an alternation of generations. These plants may 
be entirely cellular (Carpophyta), or may be furnished 
with vascular canals. Of the latter the male and fe- 
male prothallia may be naked and free (Pteridophyta 
or ferns, etc.), or may be enclosed in modified leaves, 
or flowers, the Phznogamia or flowering plants. 

For the reasons already mentioned the order of 
“¢successional relation” above pointed out, is likely to 
prove to be the order of appearance of plants in time, 
and that such is the fact is demonstrated by their pa- 
leontology. In the earliest beds in which plants are 
positively known to occur, the Ordovician, we have 
only Alge (Zygophyta and Oéphyta). In the Siluric 
we have a great predominance of the same classes, a 
very few species of which appear to have formed great 
erect stems. In the next period, the Devonic, prob- 
able Carpophyta are present, while the vascular Pte- 
ridophyta appear for the first time, and in consider- 
able numbers. A few members of the gymnospermous 
Phenogamia (Conifere) appear. In the Carbonic pe- 


78 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Present 
period 


Plistocene 
Neocene 
Eocene 
Cretacic 
Jurassic 
Triassic 
Carbonic 
Devonic 
Siluric 
Ordovicic 


Cambric 


Proto- 
phyta 


Zygo- 
phyta 


Odphyta 


Carpo- 
phyta 


Pterido- 
phyta 


Gymno- 
sperms 


Monoco- 
tyledones 


Poly- 
petale 


Gamo- 
petala 


PHYLOGENY. 79 


riod, the greatest known development of the Pterido- 
phyta (Lycopodia, ferns, Equiseta) took place, while 
the Gymnosperms were still represented by a few gen- 
era. Their period of development or acme arrived in 
the Mesozoic ages, and the Pteridophyta underwent a 
corresponding reduction of numbers and importance. 
Not until the upper Cretaceous epoch did the Angio- 
spermous Phanerogams with their attractive flowers 
appear, and from that period to the present they have 
gained and maintained the ascendency. In accord- 
ance with the mode of origin of tubular flowers by the 
fusion of the separate petals of polypetalous forms, 
we find that the former succeeded the latter in time. 
We may review this brief sketch of the paleontol- 
ogy of plants in the preceding phylogenetic table. 
Turning now to the animal kingdom, its order of 
succession may also be perceived in existing species. 
As with plants we commence with unicellular asexual 
forms (Protozoa). Some of these increase by division 
only (Rhizopoda), while others must occasionally con- 
jugate, since, according to Maupas, the reproductive 
energy is exhausted by continued self-division (Infuso- 
ria). Such structural specializations as the highest of 
the Protozoa possess, are merely vacuities or processes 
of their material, for the purpose of internal or exter- 
nal motion. In the second grade of organization ani- 
mals are multicellular, or composed of more than one 
protoplasmic unit. The simplest of these, as Volvox, 
contains no specialized organs, but seems like a colony 
of Protozoa, although all its cells are not exactly alike 
(Ryder). An appreciable advance of structure de- 
fines the next class, the Celenterata. Here the mul- 
ticellular mass contains a distinct digestive chamber, 
from which usually radiate tubes towards the periph- 


80 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


ery, which distribute the products of digestion. - The 
first nervous threads appear. But there is as yet no 
body cavity which should form a sac in which the or- 
gans of nutrition and reproduction should be sus- 
pended. The Porifera (sponges) appear to be a much 
modified form of this type. 

This grade of specialization belongs to the greater 
number of the five succeeding classes, the Echinoder- 
mata, Vermes, Mollusca, Arthropoda, and Vertebrata. 
Where it is absent from a few of the three lower 
classes, it is supposed to have disappeared by degen- 
eracy.: The Echinodermata come first in considera- 
tion. In these animals the form inclines to be radiated 
and the nervous system presents no single axis, but 
consists of branches which radiate from a ring sur- 
rounding the oral extremity of the digestive canal. In 
the second type, the general form is longitudinal and 
may be segmented, and a nervous axis may extend 
longitudinally from one or more points on the ceso- 
phageal ring.- These are the Vermes (true worms). 
Embryology indicates clearly the common origin of 
the Echinodermata and the Vermes. No line of de- 
scent can be traced from the former, but from the lat- 
ter we have traced the remaining branches of animals, 
three in number. Lowest of these is the Mollusca.* 
The form of the body is sac-like, and the nervous sys- 
tem displays, typically, besides the cesophageal ring, 
a second ring, consisting of lateral commissures, mak- 
ing a single median ganglion of the foot. The body 
is not segmented, and there are no jointed limbs. In 


the second branch, that of the Arthropoda, the body . 


is longitudinal and segmented, and segmented limbs 
are present. There is a median nervous axis, proceed- 
ing from the cesophageal ring along the inferior axis 


. 


PHYLOGENY. 81 


of the body, connecting several ganglia, (with some 
exceptions where the ganglia are fused or wanting). 
There is no internal skeleton. In the last and highest 
branch, that of the Vertebrata, the body is longitudi- 
nal and is segmented. It has a longitudinal nervous 
axis on the superior middle line, which is supported 
below by an axis of resistant material, usually bone, 
which forms the axis of an internal skeleton. Seg- 
mented limbs are present. 

The lines of descent of these branches indicated by 
embryology are as follows: 


Vertebrata. 
Arthropoda. 
Mollusca. 
Echinodermata. 
ermes: 
Porifera. 
Ceelenterata. 
Catallacta, 
Protozoa. 


The above series present a history which is, on the 
whole, very different from that already described as 
characterizing the vegetable kingdom. Between the 
first and last terms of the series, there is exhibited a 
great progressive advance in all the higher features of 
life. “These are mobility, and such control over the 
environment as it gives; and sensibility, through the 
development of a nervous system, which gives control 
over the movements.” The highest development is 
that of mental characteristics, as emotions and intelli- 
gence, which are especially seen in the higher Verte- 
brata. 


82 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


This progress has not been accomplished without 
much degeneracy by the way. All of the branches 
display divisions which have become sessile, and some 
of them are almost altogether so. Among Ccelenterata 
the Actinozoa are fixed, and often develop a calcareous 
skeleton. Many of the Hydroids are sessile. The 
great branch of the Echinodermata has its locomotive 
powers greatly curtailed, and many of them are per- 
manently sessile. The same is true of the Mollusca. 
Both divisions are at one side of the line of progres- 
sive evolution as a consequence of this tendency. The 
Vermes display in their free representatives the condi- 
tions of progressive evolution. Being longitudinal 
and bilateral, one extremity becomes differentiated by 
first contact with the environment, as the seat of spe- 
cial senses, the basis having been secured by the loca- 
tion there of the nervous centers and ring. The Ar- 
thropoda present us with a great development of 
locomotive organs, and of special senses. As a whole, 
they have not made a considerable advance into the 
possession of the higher animal mental capacities, but 
display various degeneracies or degenerate tendencies 
among themselves. The moderately specialized as to 
structure are the most intelligent. These are the Hy- 
menoptera, which display mental capacity superior to 
that of many Vertebrata. The latter branch, although 
presenting one sessile type, the Urochorda, has pro- 
duced in its highest class, the Mammalia, the most gen- 
eral elevation in this, the highest of animal functions. 
This intelligence is in most of the types expended in 
preserving themselves from destruction against hostile 
environments, and the conquest of nature thus effected 
is remarkable from a physical point of view, but is an 
end of no great elevation of purpose from a mental 


PHYLOGENY. 83 


standpoint. It is only in the most intelligent of the 
Mammalia, and in man, that we behold social and in- 
tellectual qualities which express something more than 
a mere routine of material existence. 

Since Protozoa are very fragile, even when pos- 
sessed of shells of mineral salts, we cannot expect to 
discover the actual date of their first appearance on 
the earth. Nevertheless they have been recently dis- 
covered in the later Archzean (= Huronian) beds of 
France. Some of the simplest Ccelenterata, however, 
(the Actinozoa), have deposited lime salts in the septa 
of their digestive chambers, and in some instances over 
their entire surface, so that their preservation has been 
assured. Thus we can prove that the simplest coral 
animals appear in the oldest rocks of sedimentary ori- 
gin, the Cambric. Probably Vermes, and positively 
Echinodermata, Mollusca, and Arthropoda (Trilobita), 
also appear in the Cambric. Vertebrata appear defi- 
nitely in the Siluric ; their supposed appearance in the 
Ordovicic being very doubtful. ° 

The paleontologic history conforms to the syste- 
matic order in so far as it shows that the Ceelenterata 
appeared first, and the Vertebrata last, in time. A 
more complete correspondence between the two his- 
tories is found in the divisions of these branches, and 
I will take up the Vertebrata as the one of whose be- 
ginning we know the most, and are likely to know 
more. 


2. THE PHYLOGENY OF THE VERTEBRATA. 
a. Phylogeny of the Classes. 


As the illustrations of evolution in the present work 
are mainly drawn from the Vertebrata, I go somewhat 
into detail in discussing the phylogeny of that branch. 


84 PRIMAKY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


They present the advantage, that, since they appeared 
last of the animal kingdom in time, we can obtain a 
clearer view of their beginnings than in the case of the 
other great branches. 

Before going into the subject I wish to call atten- 
tion to a prevalent source of error in the construction 
of phylogenies. This is the confusion of ideas general 
among naturalists who are not at the same time com- 
petent systematists, as to the subordination of charac- 
ters. All correct phylogenetic inference depends on a 
correct appreciation of the value of characters. Fail- 
ing this, error and confusion result. If, for instance, 
it is alleged that such a genus is ancestral to another 
genus, it is often forgotten that the descent of generic 
character, and not specific character, is meant. The 
usual type of critic attempts to contradict such hy- 
pothesis by showing some incongruity in specific char- 
acters, a matter which is quite irrelevant to the issue. 
Thus Madame Pavlov finds that Aippotherium mediter- 
raneum is not the ancestor of EZguus caballus, and comes 
promptly to the conclusion that the genus Hippothe- 
rium is not ancestral to the genus Equus. This is a 
non sequitur, for there are perhaps twenty species of 
Hippotherium, some of which are almost certain to 
have been ancestral to species of American Equus. In 
like manner, if it is alleged that the condylarthrous 
Mammalia are ancestral to the Diplarthra, if it should 
happen that no known genus of the former fits exactly 
the position of ancestor to any genus of the latter, in 
our present state of knowledge, the contention is not 
thereby vitiated, and it is implied that such genus will 
certainly be found. If it is also alleged that Condy- 
larthra have been the ancestors of the anthropoid line, 
if some of the known genera of the former turn out to 


4 


PHYLOGENY. 85 


have no clavicle, a bone which is possessed by the 
latter, it is only to be concluded that the early lemur- 
oids were derived from Condylarthra which possessed 
a clavicle. And in the discussion of the descent of 
one order from another, care must be taken that fam- 
ily, generic, and even specific characters are not im- 
ported into the discussion. 

It is this confusion of ideas on the part of both 
phylogenists and their critics, that has brought phylo- 
genetic schemes into a discredit in some quarters, 
which is sometimes deserved and sometimes unde- 
served. Embryologists are especially apt to construct 
impossible phylogenies, as they are generally not sys- 
tematists, and frequently not anatomists. An excel-- 
lent illustration of an impossible phylogeny is that of 
the fishes published a few years ago by the embryolo- 
gist Dr. Beard. As an illustration of clean-cut phy- 
logeny without confusion, I cite that of Haeckel; which 
I have shown to be, as regards the Vertebrata, mainly 
correct. 

In attempting to ascertain the course of evolution 
of the Vertebrata, and to construct phylogenetic dia- 
grams which shall express this history, among the dif- 
ficulties arising from deficient information one is espe- 
cially prominent. As is well known, there are many 
types in all the orders of the Vertebrata which present 
us with rudimentary organs, as rudimental digits, feet 
or limbs, rudimental fins, teeth, and wings. There is 
scarcely an organ or part which is not somewhere ina 
rudimental and more or less useless condition. The 
difficulty which these cases present is, simply, whether 
they be persistent primitive conditions, to be regarded 
as ancestral types which have survived to the present 
time, or whether, on the other hand, they be results of 


86 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


a process of degeneration, and therefore of compara- 
tively modern origin. The question, in brief, is, 
whether these creatures presenting these features be 
primitive ancestors or degenerate descendants. 

A great deal of light has been happily thrown on 
this question, as regards the Vertebrata, by the recent 
work done in North American paleontology. The lines 
of descent of many of the minor groups have been 
positively determined, and the phylogenetic connec- 
tions of most of the primary divisions or classes have 
been made out. The result of these investigations has 
been to prove that the evolution of the Vertebrata has 
proceeded not only on lines of acceleration, but also 
on lines of retardation. That is, that evolution has 
been not only progressive, but at times retrogressive. 

The Amphioxus (genus Branchiostoma) is generally 
regarded as the ancestral vertebrate. There are many 
reasons why this position must be accepted, although 
it possesses a few secondary modifications. Whether 
Branchiostoma derived its descent from an annelid 
worm, or from a tunicate, is a vexed question. Brooks} 
remarks as to this, ‘‘Up to this point I believe that 
the ancestral history of the tunicates was identical with 
that of the vertebrates; for the hepatic ccecum, the 
dilated pharynx, the pharyngeal clefts, the hypophar- 
yngeal gland, and the peripharyngeal bands, have been 
inherited by all the Chordata (Vertebrata), and have 
impressed themselves so firmly in their organization 
that even the highest vertebrates still retain them, 
either as vestiges or as organs which have béen fitted 
to new functions. I believe, however, that while they 
were acquired before the tunicates diverged from the 
chordate (vertebrate) stem, they were acquired by an 


1Studies from the Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University, 1893, p. 175. 


PHYLOGENY. 87 


organism whose environment and habits of life were 
essentially like those of the modern Appendicularia.’ 
Appendicularia is well known as the tunicate which 
retains throughout life, the notochord and tail which 
characterize the larve of other Tunicata. ; 

Omitting from consideration the two classes above 
mentioned (Acrania and Tunicata), whose remains 
have not yet been certainly found in a fossil state, there 
remain the following: the Pisces, Batrachia, Mono- 
condylia, and Mammalia.! 

I have traced the origin? of the Mammalia to the 
theromorous reptiles of the Permian epoch, and these 
to the Cotylosauria. The latter include the Pelycosau- 
ria, Procolophonina, Anomodontia, and perhaps other 
orders. In the Cotylosauria the temporal region is 
roofed over, which roof is reduced in the Pelycosauria 
to one postorbital arch of the skull, and this is the zy- 
gomatic of the Mammalia. In both Reptilia and Mam- 
malia (excepting Prototheria and Procolophonina?) the 
coracoid element is of réduced size, and is co-ossified 
with the scapula. In both (except Cotylosauria) the 
capitular articulation of the ribs is intercentral. In 
both the humerus has distal condyles and epicondyles, 
and there is an entepicondylar foramen in the Pelyco- 
sauria as in the lower Mammalia. The posterior foot 


1See The Evolution of the Vertebrata Progressive and Retrogressive; Amer, 
Naturalist, 1885, Dohrn, Der Ursprung der Wirbelthiere und das Princip 
des Functionwechsels, Leipsic, 1875. ‘‘Onthe Phylogeny of the Vertebrata,” 
Cope, American Naturalist, Dec., 1884. See also the following references: 
American Naturalist, 1884, p.1136; Proceedings of the Academy of Philadelphia, 
1867, p. 234; Proceedings American Philosophical Soctety, 1884, p. 585 ; American 
Naturalist, 1884, p. 27; Proceedings American Association for the Advancement 
of Science, XIX, 1871, p. 233; Proceedings American Philosophical Society, 1882, p. 
447; American Naturalist, 1884, pp. 261 and 1121; Report U.S. Geol, Survey W. 
of rooth Mer., G. M. Wheeler, 1877, IV, 2, p. 282. 

2 Proceedings American Philosophical Society, 1884, p. 43. 


8 Seeley, Philos. Trans. Royal Society, 1889, 269. 


88 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


is constructed in the Pelycosauria almost exactly like 
that of the Prototheria. The single occipital condyle 
of the reptiles is not found in the Mammalia, but in 
some of the Lacertilia (Uroplates, Gecco) there are 
two condyles, the median (basioccipital) portion of the 
single condyle being rudimental, and Seeley has re- 
cently shown that it is deeply divided at the middle in 
the Permian Cynognathidae of South Africa.. The 
Pelycosauria could not, however, have given origin to 
the Prototheria, since in that subclass of mammals there 
is a well-developed coracoid. But in the Procolopho- 
nina this element is developed as in the Prototheria. 
Moreover, the Pelycosauria and the Procolophonina 
have the interclavicle, which is an element of membran- 
ous origin, while in the Prototheria we have the corre- 
sponding cartilage bone, the episternum. This element 
is present in the Permian order of the Cotylosauria, 
which is nearly related to the Pelycosauria. This or- 
der has, however, single-headed ribs, springing from 
the diapophyses, which is not usual in the Mammalia. 
But in some Cotylosauria the diapophyses are short, 
and in the Monotremata the postcervical ribs are sin- 
gle-headed, so this character is not an insurmountable 
one. It is evident that the Mammalia were derived 
from some type probably referable to a Permian rep- 
tilian order of the Theromorous series, although to 
which one is not yet known. 

The Reptilia have been supposed by Haeckel to 
have taken their origin from the Batrachia. I have 
indicated that it is probable that the batrachian order, 
which stands in this relation to the Reptilia, is the 
Embolomeri of the Permian epoch. This conclusion 
rests on the following considerations. The reptilian 
order of the Cotylosauria approaches the Batrachia of 


PHYLOGENY. 89 


the subclass Stegocephali in the overroofing of the 
posterior regions of the skull; in the presence of vo- 
merine teeth, and in the absence of obturator foramen 
of the pelvis. In some Cotylosauria (Diadectide) the 
stegocephalian tabular bone of the skull is well devel- 
oped. But in the Cotylosauria, the vertebral column 
consists mainly of centra, while in the Stegocephali it 
consists entirely or partly of intercentra. But in the 
Embolomeri the centra are well developed, and are 
larger than the intercentra anterior to the pelvis. 
Hence this is the only order of Stegocephali from 
which the Reptilia could have been derived. 

Haeckel derived the Batrachia from the Dipnoi 
(Dipneusta), and I followed him in this belief, being 
strengthened in it by Huxley’s ascription of an auto- 
stylic suspensorium of the mandible! to both divisions. 
This phylogeny is questioned by Pollard? and by Kings- 
ley,3 who would see the ancestry of the Batrachia in 
the crossopterygian fishes on embryological grounds 
derived from a study of Polypterus. In support of 
their view I would cite the absence of the maxillary 
arch in the Dipnoi, and its full development in the 
Stegocephali, which are the ancestral Batrachia. The 
large development of the dorsal and anal fins in the 
Dipnoi is not favorable to the Haeckelian view; nor 
do the paired fins approach as nearly to the limbs of 
Batrachia as do those of some other fishes. It has been 
shown by Huxley that the suspensorium of the Ba- 
trachia is hyostylic in its earliest stages, and that it 
becomes autostylic at a later period of development. 


1 Proceedings Zoological Society of London, 1876, p. 59. 

2 Anatomischer Anzeiger, VI, p. 338, 1891. 

8 American Naturalist, 1892, p. 679. Kingsley would also derive the Dip- 
noi from Crossopterygia. 


go PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


i 
\) 
i 


: H ye % mR 
Oe 

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Fig. 24.—Zusthenopterum foordié Whiteaves; }4 natural size. Devonian of New Brunswick. From Whiteaves, 


PHYLOGENY. gt 


The Batrachia may then have originated from a hyo- 
stylic teleostomous (i. e., one with complete maxillary 
arch) fish. Among Teleostomata we naturally look for 
forms with limbs which approach nearest the batrachian 
type, and in which median fins are feeble or wanting. 
Such are the Rhipidopterygia (formerly included in 
the Crossopterygia), which include the families of 
Holoptychiide, Tristichopteride, Osteolepidide, Co- 
lacanthide, and perhaps some others. These fam- 
ilies, except the last, abounded in. the waters of the 
Devonian period, at the time when the ancestors of 
the Batrachia also existed. All of them agree in pos- 
sessing the median fins of greatly reduced proportions, 
and the mesodermal or internal elements of the paired 
fins more like the limbs of the Batrachia than are those 
of any known fishes. The constitution of the superior 
cranial wall is a good deal like that of the stegocepha- 
lous Batrachia. The characters of the fins can be 
learned from the accompanying figure of the Zusthe- 
noplerum foordii Whiteaves, one of the Tristichopteridz. 
The pectoral fin well-nigh realizes Gegenbaur’s theory 
of the derivation of the Chiropterygium from the Ar- 
chipterygium. 

The ancestral type of fishes is probably the acan- 
thodean order of the subclass of sharks (Elasmo- 
branchii).1 Like other sharks, they are hyostylic and 
have no maxillary arch or cranial bones. They have 
the ptychopterygium, which is the primitive type of 
fin. In this fin the osseous elements which support 
the fin-rays are enclosed within the body-wall, the rays 
only being free. Such a fin sustains the hypothesis 
that the paired fins are parts of primitively continuous 


1As represented by the Cladodontidae; see Dean, Trans. N.Y. Acad. 
Scz., 1893, p. 124, and Cope, American Naturalist, 1893, p. 999. 


92 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


longitudinal folds. This hypothesis is further sus- 
tained by the acanthodean genus Climatius, where a 
series of spines intervenes between the paired fins in 


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line with them. From what the Acanthodeans can 
have been descended is at present conjectural. They 
trace their ancestry ultimately to Branchiostoma (Am- 
phioxus) through forms not yet discovered. This ge- 


PHYLOGENY. 93 


nus represents.-the class Acrania, which is the ancestor 
of craniate Vertebrata. 

The phylogeny of the Vertebrata may be repre- 
sented diagrammatically as follows: 


Mammalia 
Aves 


Oe 

Teleostomata (other) a 
Telestémata (Rhipidopterygia) 

Elasmobr. (Selachii) 


Elasmobranchii— Acanthodii 


Agnatha 


Tunicata Acrania Enteropneusta 


The Vertebrata exhibit the most unmistakable gra- 
dation in the characters of the circulatory system. It 
has long been the custom to define the classes by means 
of these characters, taken in connection with those of 
the skeleton. Commencing in the Leptocardii with 
the simple tube, we have two chambers in the Marsi- 
pobranchii and fishes ; three in the Batrachia and Rep- 
tilia ; and four in the Aves and Mammalia. The aorta- 
roots commence as numerous pairs of branchial arter- 
ies in the Leptocardii ; we see seven in the Marsipo- 
branchi, five in the fishes (with number reduced in 
some); four and three in Batrachia, where they gen- 
erally cease to perform branchial functions ; two and 
one on each side in Reptilia; the right-hand one in 
birds, and the left-hand one in Mammalia. This order 
is clearly an ascending one throughout. It consists 
of, first, a transition from adaptation to an aquatic, to 


94 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


an aérial respiration; and, second, an increase in the 
power to aérate and distribute a circulating fluid of in- 
creased quantity, and of increased calorific capacity. 
In other words, the circulation passes from the cold to 
the hot-blooded type coincidentally with the changes 
of structure above enumerated. The accession of a ca- 
pacity to maintain a fixed temperature while that of 
the surrounding medium changes, is an important ad- 
vance in animal economy. 

The brain and nervous system also display a gen- 
eral progressive ascent. Leaving the brainless Acrania, 
the Marsipobranchs and fishes present us with small 
hemispheres with thin cortex, larger optic lobes, and 
well-developed cerebellum. The hemispheres are really 
larger than they appear to be, as Rabl Riickard has 
shown! that the supposed hemispheres are only corpora 
striata. But the superior walls are membranous, and 
support on their internal side only a layer of epithelial 
cells, as in the embryos of other Vertebrata, instead of 
the gray substance. So that, although we find that the 
cerebellum is really smaller in the Batrachia and most 
Reptilia than in the fishes, the better development of 
the hemispheres in the former gives them the pre- 
eminence. The Elasmobranchii show themselves su- 
perior to many of the fishes in the large size of their 
corpora restiformia and cerebellum. The Reptilia con- 
stitute an advance on the Batrachia. In the latter the 
optic thalami are, with some exceptions, of greater 
diameter than the hemispheres, while the reverse is 
generally true of the reptiles. The crocodiles display 
much superiority over the other reptiles in the larger 
cerebellum, with rudimental lateral lobes. The greater 
development of the hemispheres in birds is well known, 


1Biologisches Centralblatt, 1884, p. 449. 


PHYLOGENY. 95 


while the general superiority of the brain of the living 
Mammalia over all other vertebrates is admitted. 

The consideration of the successive relations of the 
skeleton in the classes of vertebrates embraces, of 
course, only the characters which distinguish those 
classes. These are not numerous. They embrace the 
structure of the axis of the skull; of the ear-bones ; of 
the suspensors of the lower jaw; of the scapular arch 
and anterior limb, and of the pelvic arch and posterior 
limb. Other characters are numerous, but do not enter 
into consideration at this time. 

The persistence of the primitive cartilage in any 
part of the skeleton is, embryologically speaking, a 
mark of inferiority. From a physiological or functional 
standpoint it has the same significance, since it is far 
less effective both for support and for movement than 
is the segmented osseous skeleton. That this is a prev- 
alent condition of the lower Vertebrata is well known. 
The bony fishes and Batrachia have but little of the 
primitive cartilage remaining, and the quantity is still 
more reduced in the higher classes. Systematically, 
then, the vertebrate series is in this respect an ascend- 
ing one. The Acrania are membranous; the Marsi- 
pobranchii and most of the Elasmobranchii cartilagi- 
nous; the other Pisces and the Batrachia have the 
basicranial axis cartilaginous, so that it is not until the 
Reptilia are reached that we have osseous sphenoid 
and presphenoid bones, such as characterize the birds 
and mammals. The vertebral column follows more or 
less inexactly the history of the base of the skull, but 
its characters do not define the classes. 

As regards the suspensor of the lower jaw, the scale 
is in the main ascending. We witness a gradual change 
in the segmentation of the mandibular visceral arch of 


96 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


the skull, which clearly has for its object such a con- 
centration of the parts as will produce the greatest ef- 
fectiveness of the biting function. This is accom- 


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plished by reducing the number of the segments, so as 
to bring the resistance of the teeth nearer to the power, 
that is, the masseter and related muscles, and their 
base of attachment, the brain-case. This is seen in 


PHYLOGENY. 97 


bony vertebrates in the reduction of the segments be- 
tween the lower jaw proper and the skull, from four to 
none. In the fishes we have the hyomandibular, the 
symplectic, the inferior quadrate, and the articular. 
In the Batrachia, reptiles and birds, we have the quad- 
rate and articular only, while in the Mammalia these 
elements also are wanting. 

The examination of the pectoral and pelvic arches 
reveals a successive modification of the adaptation of 
the parts to the mechanical needs of the limbs. In 
this regard the air-breathing types display wide di- 
versity from the gill-bearing types or fishes. In the 
latter, the lateral elements unite below without the in- 
tervention of a median element or sternum, while in 
the former the sternum, or parts of it, is generally pres- 
ent. Either arrangement is susceptible of much me- 
chanical strength, as witness the siluroid fishes on the 
one hand, and the mole on the other. The numerous 
segments of the fishes’ pectoral arch must, however, 
be an element of weakness, so that from a mechanical 
standpoint it must take the lowest place. The pres- 
ence of sternal elements, with both clavicle, epicora- 
coid, and coracoid bones on each side, gives the Rep- 
tilia the highest place for mechanical strength. The 
loss of the bony coracoid seen in the tailed Batrachia, 
and loss of coracoid and epicoracoid in the Mammalia, 
constitute an element of weakness. The line is not 
then one of uniform ascent in this respect. 

The absence of pelvis, or its extremely rudimental 
condition, in fishes, places them at the foot of the line 
in this respect. The forward extension of the ilium in 
some Batrachia and in the Mammalia, is to be com- 
pared with its backward direction in Reptilia, and its 
extension both ways in the birds. These conditions 


7. 
98 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


are all derived by descent from a strictly intermediate 
position in the Batrachia and Reptilia of the Permian 
epoch. The anterior direction must be regarded as 
having the mechanical advantage over the posterior 
direction, since it shortens the vertebral column and 
brings the grip of the posterior nearer to the anterior 
feet. The prevalence of the latter condition in the 
Mammalia enables them to stand clear of the ground, 
while the Reptilia move with the abdomen resting upon 
it, excepting the higher Dinosauria, where the arrange- 
ment is as in birds. As regards the inferior arches of 
the pelvis, the Mammalia have the advantage again, 
in the strong bony median symphysis connecting the 
ischium and pubis.!_ This character, universal among 
the land Vertebrata of the Permian epoch, has been lost 
by the modern Reptilia and birds, and is retained only 
by the Mammalia. So the lines, excepting the mam- 
malian, have degenerated in every direction in the char- 
acters of the pelvis. 

The limbs of the Pisces are as well adapted to their 
environment as are those of the land Vertebrata; but, 
from an embryological standpoint, their structure is 
inferior. The primitive rays are less modified in the 
fin than in the limb; and limbs themselves display a 
constantly increasing differentiation of parts, com- 
mencing with the Batrachia and ending with the Mam- 
malia. The details of these modifications belong to 
the history of the contents of the classes, however, 
rather than to the succession of the Vertebrata as a 
whole. : 

In review, it may be said that a comparison of the 
characters which define the classes of the vertebrates 
shows that this branch of the animal kingdom has 


1 This is an advantage as a protection during gestation. 


PHYLOGENY. 99 


made with the ages successive steps of progress from 
lower to higher conditions. This progress has not been 
without exception, since, as regards the construction 
of the scapular arch, the Mammalia have retrograded 
from the reptilian standard as a whole. 

In subsequent pages I shall take up the lines of the 
classes separately. 


6. The Line of the Pisces. 


The fishes form various series and subseries, and 
the tracing of all of them is not yet practicable, owing 
to the deficiency in our knowledge of the earliest or 
ancestral forms. Thus the origins of the three sub- 
classes, Holocephali, Dipnoi, and Elasmobranchii, are 
lost in the obscurity of the early Paleozoic ages. The 
genus Paleospondylus of Traquair from the Carbonife- 
rous probably represents an Agnathous type from 
which all fishes may have sprung, although the genus, 
as now known, has not sufficient antiquity to claim 
this place. It may bea near descendant of the amphi- 
oxus. 

A comparison of the four subclasses of fishes shows 
that they are related in pairs. The Holocephali and 
Dipnoi have no distinct suspensory segment for the 
lower jaw, while the Elasmobranchii and Teleostomata 
have such a separate element. The latter, therefore, 
present one step in the direction of complication be- 
yond the former. It is, however, asserted by Huxley! 
that the absence of suspensorium is due to its appro- 
priation by the hyoid arch in the Holocephali, and its 
rudimental condition in the Dipnoi. If this be the 
case, the Holocephali and Dipnoi are peculiar speciali- 


1 Proceedings Zoblogical Society, London, 1876, p. 45. 


100 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


zations at one side of the main line of descent of the 
fishes. We look then for the ancestral type of the true 
fishes among the Elasmobranchii, and of these the 
Ichthyotomi display the greatest resemblances to the 
Teleostomata in all respects. 

Too little is known of the history of the subclasses, 
excepting the Teleostomata, for us to be able to say 
much of the direction of the descent of their contained 
orders. On the sharks much light is shed by the dis- - 
covery of characters of the genus Cladodus Agass., in 
which the support of the paired fins consists of a meta- 
pterygium, which is enclosed in a lateral fold of the 
body wall, and which gives rise to simple external 
basilar rods only. Of the Teleostomata a much clearer 
history is accessible. It has four primary divisions or 
tribes which differ solely in the structure of the sup- 
ports of the fins. In the first division, the Crossopte- 
rygia, the anterior limbs have numerous basilar bones 
which are supported on a peduncle of axial bones. 
The posterior limbs are similar. In the second divi- 
sion, or Podopterygia (the sturgeons, etc.), the pos- 
terior limbs remain the same, while the anterior limbs 
have undergone a great abbreviation in the loss of the 
axial bones and the reduction of the number and length 
of the basilar bones. In the third group, or Actino- 
pterygia, both limbs have undergone reduction, the 
basilar bones in the posterior fin being almost all atro- 
phied, while those of the fore limb are much reduced 
in number. In the fourth superorder, the Rhipido- 
pterygia, the axial supports of the median fins are 
greatly reduced in number, presenting a marked con- 
trast to the other superorders ; while the axial elements 


1 See Proceedings American Philosophical Society, 1884, p. 572, on the genus 
Didymodus, 


PHYLOGENY, IOI 


of the paired fins are present and primitive, and re- 
semble those of one of the suborders of sharks. 

The phylogeny of the Teleostomata, as indicated 
by the fin-structure, will commence with the Crosso- 
pterygia. From this group the Podopterygia may be 
theoretically derived, and from these the Actinoptery- 
gia. The Rhipidopterygia appear to be a side group, 
not in the main piscine line. But the oldest known 
Crossopterygia are from the Carboniferous, while the 
Rhipidopterygia are abundant in the Devonian. More- 
over, the superorder Actinopterygia, with its contracted 
fins, may have appeared in the Carboniferous, while 
the Podopterygia (Paleoniscidz) certainly did so. 

The descent of the fishes in general has witnessed, 
then, a contraction of the limbs to a very small com- 
pass, and their substitution by a system of accessory 
dermal radii. This has been an ever-widening diver- 
gence from the type of the higher Vertebrata, and 
from this standpoint, and also a view of the ‘‘loss of 
parts without complementary addition of other parts,” 
may be regarded as a process of degeneration. 

Taking up the great division of the Actinopterygia, 
which embraces most of the species of living fishes, 
we can trace the direction of descent largely by ref- 
erence to their systematic relations when we have no 
fossils to guide us. 

The three subtribes adopted by Jordan represent 
three series of the true fishes which indicate lines of 
descent. The Holostei include the remainder of the 
old ganoids after the subtraction of the Rhipidoptery- 
gia, the Crossopterygia, and the Podopterygia. They 
resemble these forms in the muscular bulbus arteriosus 
of the heart, in the chiasm of the optic nerves, and in 
the greater distinctness of the metapterygium. The 


102 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


two former characters are complexities which the two 
other divisions do not possess, and which, as descend- 
ants coming later in time, must be regarded as inferior, 
and therefore to that extent degenerate. Of these di- 
visions the Malacopterygia approach nearest the Ho- 
lostei, and are indeed not distinctly definable without 
exceptions. The third division, or Acanthopterygia, 
shows a marked advance beyond the others in: (1) the 
obliteration of the primitive trachea, or ductus pneu- 
maticus, which connects the swim-bladder and ceso- 
phagus ; (2) the advance of the ventral fins from the 

“abdomen forward to the throat ; (3) the separation of 
the parietal bones by the supraoccipital ; (4) the pres- 
ence of numerous spinous rays in the fins ; and (5) the 
roughening of the edges of the scales, forming the cten- 
oid type. There are more or less numerous excep- 
tions to all of these characters. The changes are all 
further divergencies from the other vertebrate classes, 
or away from the general line of ascent of the verte- 
brate series taken as a whole. The end gained is spe- 
cialization ; but whether the series can be called either 
distinctively progressive or retrogressive, is not so 
clear. The development of osseous spines, rough 
scales, and other weapons of defense, together with 
the generally superior energy and tone which prevail 
among the Acanthopterygia, characterize them as su- 
perior to the Malacopterygia, but their departure from 
the ascending line of the Vertebrata has another ap- 
pearance. 

The descent of the Acanthopterygian fishes has 
probably been from Holostean ancestors, both with 
and without the intervention of Malacopterygian forms. 
This is indicated by increase in the number of basilar 


PHYLOGENY. 103 


bones? in the fins of families which have pectoral ven- 
tral fins, and in the extinct genus Dorypterus.? 

The Malacopterygia display three or four distinct 
lines of descent. The simplest type is represented by 
the order Isospondyli, and paleontology indicates clearly 
that this order is also the oldest, as it dates from the 
Trias at least. In one line the anterior dorsal verte- 
bre have become complicated, and form an interlock- 
ing mass which is intimately connected with the sense 
of equilibrium in the water. This series commences 
with the Characinide, passes through the Cyprinide, 
and ends with the Siluride. The arrangements for 
equilibration constitute a superadded complication, 
and to these are added in the Siluroids defensive spines 
and armor. Some of this order, however, are distinctly 
degenerate, as the soft purblind Ageniosus, and the 
parasitic Stegophilus and Vandellia, which are nearly 
blind, without weapons, and with greatly reduced fins. 

The next line (the Haplomi, pike, etc.) loses the 
precoracoid arch and has the parietal bones separated, 
both characters of the Acanthopterygia. This group 
was apparently abundant during the Cretaceous period, 
and it may have given origin to many of the Acantho- 
pterygia. 

Another line also loses the precoracoid, but in other 
respects diverges totally from the Acanthopterygia and 
all other Malacopterygia. This is the line of the eels. 
They next lose the connection between the scapular 
arch and the skull, which is followed by the loss of the 
pectoral fin. The ventral fin disappeared sooner. The 
palatine bones and teeth disappear, and the suspensor 


1See Cope '‘ On the Homologies of the Fins of Fishes”; American Nat- 
uralist, 1890, p. 401. 

2See Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Sct- 
ence, 1878, p. 297. 


104 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


of the lower jaw grows longer and loses its symplectic 
element. The opercular bones grow smaller, and some 
of them disappear. The ossification of most of the 
hyoid elements disappears, and some of their cartila- 
ginous bases even vanish. These forms are the marine 
eels or Colocephali. The most extraordinary example 
of specialization and degeneracy is seen in the abyssal 
eels of the family Eurypharyngide. Here all the de- 
generate features above mentioned are present in ex- 
cess, and others are added, as the loss of ossification 
of a part of the skull, almost total obliteration of the 
hyoid and scapular arches, and the semi-notochordal 
condition of the vertebral column, etc. 

The Acanthopterygia nearest the Malacopterygia 
have abdominal ventral fins, and belong to several or- 
ders. It is such types as these that may be supposed 
to have been derived directly from Holostean ances- 
tors. They appear in the Cretaceous period (Derce- 
tide), along with the types that connect with the Ma- 
lacopterygia (Haplomi). Intermediate forms between 
these and typical Acanthopterygii occur in the Eocene 
(Trichophanes, Erismatopterus), showing several lines 
of descent. The Dercetide belong apparently to the 
order Hemibranchi, while the Eocene genera named 
belong apparently to the Aphododiride, the immediate 
ancestor of the highest Physoclysti, the Percomorphi. 
The order Hemibranchi is a series of much interest. 
Its members lose the membrane of their dorsal spinous 
fin (Gasterosteide), and then the fin itself (Fistularia, 
Pegasus). The branchial apparatus has undergone, 
as in the eels, successive deossification (by retarda- 
tion), and this in direct relation to the degree with 
which the body comes to be protected by bony shields, 
reaching the greatest defect in the Amphisilide. One 


PHYLOGENY. 105 


more downward step is seen in the next succeeding 
order of the Lophobranchii. The branchial hyoid ap- 
paratus is reduced to a few cartilaginous pieces, and the 
branchial fringes are much reduced in size. In the 
Hippocampidz the caudal fin disappears and the tail 
becomes a prehensile organ by the aid of which the 
species lead a sedentary life. The mouth is much con- 
tracted and becomes the anterior orifice of a suctorial 
tube. This is a second line of unmistakable degen- 
eracy among true fishes. 

The Acanthopterygia with pectoral ventral fins pre- 
sent us with perhaps ten important ordinal or subordi- 
nal divisions. Until the paleontology of this series is 
better known, we shall have difficulty in constructing 
phylogenies. Some of the lines may, however, be 
made out. The accompanying diagram will assist in 
understanding them. 

The Anacanthini present a general weakening of 
the organization in the less firmness of the ossecus 
tissue and the frequent reduction in the size and char- 
acter of the fins. The caudal vertebre are of the 
diphycercal type. As this group does not appear early 
in geological time, and as it is largely represented now 
in the abyssal ocean fauna, there is every reason to 
regard it as a degenerate type.! The Heterosomata 
(flounders) found it convenient to lie on one side, a 
habit which would appear to result from a want of mo- 
tive energy. The fins are very inefficient organs of 
movement in them, and they are certainly no rivals for 
swift-swimming fishes in the struggle for existence, 
excepting as they conceal themselves. In order to see 
the better while unseen, the inferior eye has turned in- 


1The general characters of the deep-sea fish-fauna are those of degen- 
eracy. 


106 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


ward, i. e., upward, and finally has penetrated to the 
superior surface, so that both eyes areononeside. This 
peculiarity would be incredible, if we did not know of 


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its existence, and is an illustration of the extraordinary 
powers of accommodation possessed by nature. The 
Heterosomata (flatfishes) can only be considered a de- 
generate group. The scyphobranch line presents a 


PHYLOGENY. 107 


specialization of the superior pharyngeal bones, which 
is continued by the Haplodoci (Batrachide). This 
cannot be called a degenerate line, although the fin- 
rays are soft. 

The double bony floor of the skull of the distegous 
percomorph fishes is a complication which places them 
at the summit of the line of true fishes. At the sum- 
mit of this division must be placed the Pharyngogna- 
thi, which fill an important réle in the economy of the 
tropical seas, and the fresh waters of the Southern 
Hemisphere. By means of their powerful grinding 
pharyngeal apparatus they can reduce vegetable and 
animal food inaccessible to other fishes. The result 
is seen in their multifarious species and innumerable 
individuals decked in gorgeous colors, and often reach- 
ing considerable size. This is the royal suborder of 
fishes, and there is no reason why they should not con- 
tinue to increase in importance in the present fauna. 

Very different is the line of the Plectognathi. The 
probable ancestors of this division, the Epelasmia 
(Chzetodontidz, etc.), are also abundant in the tropi- 
cal seas, and are among the most brilliantly colored of 
fishes. One of their peculiarities is seen in a shorten- 
ing of the brain-case and prolongation of the jaws 
downward and forward. The utility of this arrange- 
ment is probably to enable them to procure their food 
from the holes and cavities of the coral reefs, among 
which they dwell. In some of the genera the muzzle 
has become tubular (Chelmo), and is actually used as 
a blow-gun by which insects are secured by shooting 
them with drops of water. This shortening of the 
basicranial axis has produced a corresponding abbre- 
viation of the hyoid apparatus. The superior pharyn- 
geal bones are so crowded as to have become a series 


108 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


of vertical plates like the leaves of a book. These 
characters are further developed in the Plectognathi. 
The brain-case is very small, the face is very elongate, 
and the mouth is much contracted. The bones sur- 
rounding it in each jaw are codssified. The axial ele- 
ments (pubes) of the posterior fins unite together, be- 
come very elongate, and lose the natatory portion. In 
one group (Orthagoriscidz) the posterior part of the 
vertebral column is lost, and the caudal fin is a nearly 
useless rudiment. In the Ostraciontide (which may 
have had a different origin, as the pharyngeal bones 
are not contracted) the natatory powers are much re- 
duced, and the body is inclosed in an osseous carapace 
so as to be capable of very little movement. The en- 
tire order is deficient in osseous tissue, the bones be- 
ing thin and weak. It is a marked case of degeneracy. 

There are several evident instances of sporadic de- 
generacy in other orders. One of these is the case of 
the family of the Icosteidz, fishes from deep waters off 
the coast of California. Although members of the 
Percomorphi, the skeleton in the two genera Icosteus 
and Icichthys is unossified, and is perfectly flexible. 
Approximations to this state of things are seen in the 
parasitic genus Cyclopterus, and in the ribbon-fishes, 
Trachypteride. 

Thus nearly all the main lines of the Acanthopte- 
rygii are degenerate ; the exceptions are those that 
terminate in the Scombride (mackerel), Serranidz, 
and Scaride (Pharyngognathi). 


c. The Line of the Batrachia. 


We know Batrachia first in the Coal Measures. 
They reach a great development in the Permian epoch, 
and are represented by large species in the Triassic 


PHYLOGENY. 109 


period. From that time they diminish in numbers, 
and at the present day form an insignificant part of 
the vertebrate fauna of the earth. The history of their 
succession is told by a table of classification such as I 
give below: 
I. Supraoccipital, tabular, and supramastoid bones present. Pro- 
podial bones distinct. STEGOCEPHALI. 
Vertebral centra, including atlas, segmented, one set of 
segments together supporting one arch; Rhachitomi. 


Vertebrze segmented, the superior and inferior segments 
each complete, forming two centra to each arch; 


Embolomert. 
Vertebral centra, including atlas, not segmented, one to 
each arch; Microsauri, 


II. Supraoccipital and supramastoid bones wanting. Frontal and 
propodial bones distinct ; URODELA. 
a, An os tabulare. 
A palatine arch and separate caudal vertebra ; Protetda 
aa, No os tabulare. 
A maxillary arch ; palatine arch imperfect ; nasals, pre- 
maxillaries and caudal vertebrze distinct . 
Pseudosauria} 
No maxillary or palatine arches; nasals and premaxil- 
liary, also caudal vertebre, distinct ; Zvachystomata. 


III. Supraoccipital, tabular, and supramastoid bones wanting. 
Frontals and parietals connate; propodial bones and caudal 
vertebrz confluent ; SALIENTIA. 

Premaxillaries distinct from nasals; no palatine arch; 
astragalus and calcaneum elongate, forming a distinct 
segment of the limb ; Anura, 


The probable phylogeny of these orders as imper- 
fectly indicated by paleontology is exhibited in the 
diagram on the following page. 

An examination of the above tables shows that 
there has been in the history of the batrachian class a 
reduction in the number of the elements composing 


1 Includes the Gymnophiona. 


110 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


the skull, both by loss and by fusion with each other. 
It also shows that the vertebre have passed from a 
notochordal state with segmented centra, to biconcave 
centra, and finally to ball-and-socket centra, with a 
great reduction of numbers. It is also the fact that 
the earlier forms (those of the Permian epoch) show 
the most mammalian characters of the tarsus and of 
the pelvis. The later forms, the salamanders, show a 
more generalized form of carpus and tarsus and of 
pelvis also. In the latest forms, the Anura, the carpus 
and tarsus are reduced through loss of parts, except 


ra hystomata 
Urodel 


Salientia 


REpTILia Proteida 
Microsauri 

Embolgmeri | 
ea 
Plc 


that the astragalus and calcaneum are phenomenally 
elongate. We have then, in the batrachian series, a 
somewhat mixed kind of change; but it principally 
consists of concentration and consolidation of parts. 
The question as to whether this process is one of pro- 
gression or retrogression may be answered as follows: 
If degeneracy consists in ‘‘the loss of parts without 
complementary addition of other parts,” then the ba- 
trachian line is a degenerate line. This is only partly 
true of the vertebral column, which presents the most 
primitive characters in the early, Permian, genera 
(Rhachitomi). If departure from the nearest approx- 


PHYLOGENY. vee 


imation to the Mammalia is degeneracy, then the 
changes in this class come partly under that head. The 
scapular and pelvic arches of the Rachitomi are more 
mammalian than are those of any of their successors ; 


Fig. 27.—Cricotus crassidiscus Cope, parts of individual represented in 
Fig. 28; one-third natural size. From Permian of Texas. «, head from above; 
6, part of belly from below. From Cope. 


the carpus and tarsus are less so than that of the 
Anura. 

There are several groups which show special marks 
of degeneracy. Such are the reduced maxillary bones 


Fig. 28.—Cricotus crassidiscus Cope, vertebral column and pelvis; three-tenths natural size. Cope Coll. from the Per- 
ischium; 22, 


mian formation of Texas. Fig. a, proatlas; 4,c, cervical centra and intercentra; d, e, 7, g, caudal centra; zs, 


ilium ; Pu, pubis; zs, ischium. 


PHYLOGENY, 113 


and persistent gills of the Proteida; the absence of 
the maxillary bones and the presence of gills in the 
Trachystomata ; the loss of a pair of legs and feeble- 
ness of the remaining pair in the same; and the ex- 
treme reduction of the limbs in Amphiuma, and their 
total loss in the Czciliide. Such I must also regard, 
with Lankester, the persistent branchiz of the sire- 
dons. I may add that in the brain of the proteid Nec- 
turus the hemispheres are relatively larger than in the 
Anura, which are at the end of the line. 

“It must be concluded, then, that in many respects 
the Batrachia have undergone degeneracy with the 
passage of time. 


a. The Reptilian Line. 


As in the case of the Batrachia, the easiest way of 
obtaining a general view of the history of this class is 
by throwing their principal structural characters into a 
tabular form. As in the case of that class, I commence 
with the oldest forms and end with the latest in the 
order of time, which, as usual, corresponds, with the 
order of structure. I except from this the first order, 
the Ichthyopterygia, which we do not know prior to 
the Triassic period : 


I. The quadrate bone united with the adjacent elements by suture. 
A. Temporal region of skull with a bony roof; no postorbital 
bars. 
Supramastoid bone present; an interclavicle; limbs 
ambulatory ; Cotylosauria, 
AA. Cranium with one postorbital bar; no sternum. (Sy- 
naptosauria. ) 
a. Paroccipital bone distinct. 
A supramastoid bone; ribs two-headed on centrum ; 
carpals and tarsals not distinct in form from meta- 
podials ; Ichthyopterygia, 


114 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


No supramastoid ; sub- and postpelvic ossifications ; in- 
terclavicle and clavicles separated from and below 
scapular arch ; ribs one-headed on centrum ; coracoid 
large, free posteriorly ; Testudinata. 

ga, Paroccipital bone not distinct. 

Ribs one or two-headed, capitulum intercentral; clav- 
icles and interclavicles forming part of shoulder- 
girdle; scapula simple; pubis and ischium plate-like 
with small or no obturator foramen; no sub- or 
post-pelvic bones; no supramastoid ; Theromora, 

Supramastoid present ; ribs one-headed ; scapula trira- 
diate ; no sternum ; pubis and ischium plate-like; no 


sub: or postpelvic bones ; Plesiosauria, 
AAA. Cranium with two postorbital bars ; asternum. (Archo- 
sauria. ) 


Paroccipital bone not distinct ; no supramastoid. 
Ribs two-headed; no interclavicle; external anterior 
digits greatly elongate to support a patagium ; 


Ornithosauria. 

Ribs two-headed; no interclavicle; acetabulum per- 
forate; limbs ambulatory ; Dinosauria, 
Ribs two-headed; an interclavicle ; acetabulum closed ; 
feet ambulatory ; Crocodilia. 
Ribs one headed; an interclavicle ; acetabulum closed ; 
feet ambulatory ; Rhynchocephalia, 


II. The quadrate loosely articulated with the adjacent elements, 

and only proximally. (Streptostylica.) 
One postorbital bar, when present; a paroccipital ; su- 
pramastoid not distinct ; ribs one-headed; Sguamata. 


An inspection of the characters of these ten orders, 
and their consideration in connection with their geo- 
logical history, will give a definite idea as to the char- 
acter of their evolution. The history of the class, and 
therefore the discussion of the question, is limited in 
time to the period which has elapsed since the Per- 
mian epoch inclusive, for it is then that the Reptilia 
enter the field of our knowledge. During this period 
two remarkable orders of reptiles inhabited the earth, 


PHYLOGENY. 115 


those of the Cotylosauria and of the Theromora. The 
important character and réle of these types may be 
inferred from the fact that the Cotylosauria are struc- 
turally nearer to the Batrachia and the Theromora to 
the Mammalia than any other, and the former presents 
characters which render it probable that all the other 
reptiles derived their being from them. The phylogeny 
may be thus expressed : 


MAMMALIA 
Pterosauria 
Squamata ! 
Dinosauria 
Crocodilia 
Sauropterygia 
Rhynchocephalia Anomodonta 
Ichthyosauria Theriodonta Testudinata 


otylosauri: 


It is extremely probable that the characters of the 
posterior parts of the cranium of reptiles, as seen in 
the osseous bars posterior to the orbit, were derived 
by a kind of natural trephining of the cranial roof of 
the primitive order of the Cotylosauria. This order 
has left remains in the Permian beds of North Amer- 
ica, South Africa, and Germany. This is the theory 
of Baur,?and I have rendered it probable by researches 
on the Permian genera of North America.‘ 


1Some unknown type of Pythonomorpha will represent the ancestor of 
the Ophidia, while it is uncertain whether this order originated from the 
Theriodonta or the Rhynchocephalia. 

2The Theromora include the Pelycosauria, Theriodonta, Anomodonta, 
and other suborders. 

8 American Journal of Morphology, 1889, p. 471. 

4 Trans. Amer. Philos, Soctety, 1892, p. 13; American Naturalist, 1892, p. 
407. 


116 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


The diagrams on pages 117-11¢ illustrate the suc- 
cessive changes in the structure of the posterior region 
of the skull in the types mentioned. The orders and 
suborders Pseudosuchia, Rhynchocephalia, Ichthyo- 
pterygia, Dinosauria, Crocodilia, Sauropterygia, and 
Testudinata commence at the beginning of Mesozoic 
time, after the Permian had closed. The Squamata 
(lizards and snakes) commence, so far as is certainly 
known, in the later Mesozoic, in the Cretaceous period. 

The line which terminated in the Lacertilia and 
Ophidia (Squamata) may have originated directly from 
the Theriodonta, or it may have descended from the 
Rhynchocephalia. It departs from the former type in 
two respects: 

First, in the loss of the capitular articulation of the 
ribs, and, second, in the gradual elongation and final 
freedom of the suspensory bone of the lower jaw (the. 
os quadratum). In so departing from the Theromora, 
it also departs from the mammalian type. The ribs 
assume the less perfect kind of attachment which the 
mammals only exhibit in some of the whales, and the 
articulation of the lower jaw loses in strength, while 
it gains in extensibility, as is seen in the develop- 
ment of the line of the eels among fishes. The end 
of this series, the snakes, must therefore be said to be 
the result of a process of creation by degeneration, and 
their lack of scapular arch and fore limb and usual 
lack of pelvic arch and hind limb are confirmatory 
evidence of the truth of this view of the case. 

Secondly, as regards the ossification of the anterior 
part of the brain-case. This is deficient in some of 
the Theromora, the ancestral series, which resemble in 
this, as in many other things, the contemporary Ba- 
trachia. The late orders mostly have the anterior walls 


117 


PHYLOGENY. 


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120 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


membranous, but, in the streptostylicate series at the 
end, the skull in the snakes becomes entirely closed in 
front. In this respect, then, the latter may be said to 
be the highest or most perfect order. 

As regards the scapular arch, including the ster- 
num, no order possesses as many elements as thor- 
oughly articulated for the use of the anterior leg as the 
Permian Theromora (excepting in the suborder Pelyco- 
sauria). In all the orders there is loss of parts, except- 
ing only in the Ornithosauria and the Lacertilia. In 
the former the adaptation is to flying. The latter re- 
tain nearly the theromorous type. An especial side 
development is the modification of abdominal bones 
into three pairs of peculiar elements to be united with 
part of the scapular arch into a plastron, and the in- 
clusion of the coracoid above them, seen in the Testu- 
dinata. 

The pelvic arch has amore simple history. Again, 
in the Theromora we have the nearest approach to the 
Mammalia. The only other order which displays sim- 
ilar characters is the Ornithosauria (Dimorphodon, 
according to Seeley). In the Dinosauria we have a 
side modification which is an adaptation to the erect 
or bipedal mode of progression, the inferior bones be- 
ing thrown backward so as to support the viscera in a 
more posterior position in birds. This is an obvious 
necessity to a bipedal animal where the vertebral col- 
umn is not perpendicular. And it is from the Triassic 
Dinosauria that I suppose the birds to have arisen. The 
main line of the Reptilia, however, departs from both 
the mammalian and the avian type and loses in strength 
as compared with the former. In the latest orders, 
the Pythonomorpha and Ophidia, the pelvis is rudi- 
mental or absent. 


PHYLOGENY. 121 


As regards the limbs, the degeneracy is well marked. 
No reptilian order of later ages approaches so near to 
the Mammalia in these parts as do the Permian Thero- 
mora. This approximation is seen in the internal epi- 
condylar foramen and well-developed condyles of the 
humerus, and in the well-differentiated seven bones of 
the tarsus. The epicondylar foramen is only retained 
in later reptiles in the rhynchocephalian Sphenodon 
(Dollo); and the condyles of the Dinosauria and all of 
the other orders, excepting the Ornithosauria and some 
Lacertilia, are greatly wanting in the strong charac- 
terization seen in the Theromora. The posterior foot 
seems to have stamped out the greater part of the tar- 
sus in the huge Dinosauria, and it is reduced, though 
toa less degree, in all the other orders. In the paddled 
Plesiosauria, dwellers in the sea, the tarsus and carpus 
have lost all characterization, probably by a process of 
degeneracy, as in the mammalian whales. This is to 
be inferred from the comparatively late period of their 
appearance in time. The still more unspecialized feet 
and limbs of the Ichthyosaurus (Ichthyopterygia) can 
not yet be ascribed to degeneracy, for their history is 
too little known. At the end of the line, the snakes 
present us with another evidence of degeneracy. But 
few have a pelvic arch (Glauconiide Peters), while 
very few (Peropoda) have any trace of a posterior 
limb. 

The vertebrz are not introduced into the definitions 
of the orders, since they are not so exclusively distinc- 
tive as many other parts of the skeleton. They never- 
theless must not be overlooked. As in the Batrachia, 
the Permian orders show inferiority in the deficient 
ossification of the centrum. Many of the Theromora 
are notochordal, a character not found in any later or- 


122 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


der of reptiles excepting in a few Lacertilia (Gecconi- 
dz). They thus differ from the Mammalia, whose 
characters are approached more nearly by some of the 
terrestrial Dinosauria in this respect. Leaving this 
order, we soon reach the prevalant ball-and-socket 
type of the majority of Reptilia. This strong kind of 
articulation is a need which accompanies the more 
elongated column which itself results at first from the 
posterior direction of the ilium. In the order with the 
longest column, the Ophidia, a second articulation, 
the zygosphen, is introduced. The mechanical value 
of the later reptilian vertebral structure is obvious, and 
in this respect the class may be said to present a higher 
or more perfect condition than the Mammalia. 

In review it may be said of the reptilian line, that 
it exhibits marked degeneracy in its skeletal structure 
since the Permian epoch; the exception to this state- 
ment being in the nature of the articulations of the 
vertebre. And this specialization is an adaptation to 
one of the conditions of degeneracy, viz., the weaken- 
ing and final loss of the limbs and the arches to which 
they are attached. 

The history of the development of the brain in the 
Reptilia presents some interesting facts. In the dia- 
dectid family of the Permian Cotylosauria it is smaller 
than in a Boa constrictor, but larger than in some of 
the Jurassic Dinosauria. Marsh has shown that some 
of the latter possess brains with relatively very narrow 
hemispheres, so that in this organ those gigantic rep- 
tiles were degenerate, while the existing streptostyli- 
cate orders have advanced beyond their Permian an- 
cestors. 

There are many remarkable cases of what may now 
be safely called degradation to be seen in the contents 


PHYLOGENY. 123 


of the orders of reptiles! Among tortoises may be 
cited the loss of one or two series of phalanges in sev- 
eral especially terrestrial families of the Testudinide. 
The cases among the Lacertilia are the most remark- 
able. The entire families of the Pygopodide, the 
Anniellidze, the Anelytropide, and the Dibamidz are 
degraded from superior forms. In the Anguide, Te- 
ide, and Scincidz, we have series of forms whose steps 
are measured by the loss of a pair of limbs, or of from 
one to all the digits, and even to all the limbs. In 
some series the surangular bone is lost. In others the 
eye diminishes in size, loses its lids, loses the folds 
of the epidermis which distinguish the cornea, and 
finally is entirely obscured by the closure of the oph- 
thalmic orifice in the true skin.2, Among the snakes 
a similar degradation of the organs of sight has taken 
place in two suborders, which live underground, and 
often in ants’ nests. The Tortricide and Uropeltide 
are burrowing-snakes which display some of the earlier 
stages of this process. One genus of the true colubrine 
snakes even (according to Giinther) has the eyes ob- 
scured as completely as those of the inferior types 
above named (genus Typhlogeophis. ) 


e. The Avian Line. 


The paleontology of the birds not being well known, 
our conclusions respecting the character of their evo- 
lution must be very incomplete. A few lines of suc- 
cession are, however, quite obvious, and some of them 
are clearly lines of progress, and others are lines of re- 


1Such forms in the Lacertilia have been regarded as degradational by 
Lankester and Boulanger. 

2A table of the degenerate forms of Lacertilia is given in the chapter on 
Catagenesis. 


124 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


trogression. The first bird we know at all completely, 
is the celebrated Archeopteryx of the Solenhofen slates 
of the Jurassic period. In its elongate series of caudal 
vertebrz and the persistent digits of the anterior limbs 
we have aclear indication of the process of change 
which has produced the true birds, and we can see 
that it involves a specialization of a very pronounced 
sort. The later forms described by Seeley and Marsh 
from the Cretaceous beds of England and North Amer- 
ica, some of which have biconcave vertebre, and all 
probably, the American forms certainly, possessed 
teeth. This latter character was evidently speedily 
lost, and others more characteristic of the subclass be- 
came the field of developmental change. The parts 
which subsequently attained especial development are 
the wings and their appendages; the feet and their 
envelopes, and the vocal organs. Taking all things 
into consideration, the greatest sum of progress has 
been made by the perching birds, whose feet have be- 
come effective organs for grasping, whose vocal organs 
are most perfect, and whose flight is generally good, 
and often very good. In these birds also the circula- 
tory system is most modified, in the loss of one of the 
carotid arteries. 

The power of flight, the especially avian charac- 
ter, has been developed most irregularly, as it appears 
in all the orders in especial cases. This is apparent 
so early as in the Cretaceous toothed birds already 
mentioned. According to Marsh, the Hesperornithide 
have rudimental wings, while these organs are well 
developed in the Ichthyornithide. They are well de- 
veloped among natatorial forms in the albatrosses and 
frigate pelicans, and in the skuas, gulls, and terns, 
and are rudimental in their allies, the auks. They are 


PHYLOGENY. 125 


developed among rasorial types in the sand-grouse, 
and, among the adjacent forms, the pigeons. Then 


K.Sch.gez, 


2 

1 

Fig. 32.—Archeopteryx lithographica, 
from the middle Odlite of Bavaria. 


among the lower Passeres, the humming-birds exceed 
all birds in their powers of flight, and the swifts and 


126 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


some of the Caprimulgidz are highly developed in this 
respect. Among the higher or true song birds, the 
swallows form a notable example. With these high 
specializations occur some remarkable deficiencies. 
Such are the reduction of the feet in the Caprimulgide, 
swifts, and swallows, and the fcetal character of the 
bill in the same families. In the syndactyle families, 
represented by the kingfishers, the condition of the 
feet is evidently the result of a process of degenera- 
tion. 

A great many significant points may be observed 
in the developmental history of the epidermic struc- 
tures, especially in the feathers. The scale of change 
in this respect is in general a rising one, though vari- 
ous kinds of exceptions and variations occur. In the 
development of the rectrices (tail-feathers) there are 
genera of the wading and rasorial types, and even in 
the insessorial series, where those feathers are of prim- 
itive structure (Menuride), are greatly reduced, or 
absolutely wanting. These are cases of degeneracy. 

There is no doubt that the avian series is in gen- 
eral an ascending one. 


J The Mammatian Line. 


Discoveries in paleontology have so far invalidated 
the accepted definitions of the orders of this class that 
it is difficult to give a clearly cut analysis, especially 
from the skeleton alone. The following scheme, there- 
fore, while it expresses the natural groupings and affin- 
ities, is defective, in that some of the definitions are 
not without exceptions: ! 


1This classification of the Mammalia was first published by the writer 
inthe American Naturalist for 1885 ; was improved in the same, 1889 (October); 
and appeared in a Syllabus of Lectures of the University of Pennsylvania, 
July, 1891. 


PHYLOGENY. 127 


I. A large coracoid bone articulating with the sternum. An inter- 
clavicle (Prototheria). 

Epicoracoid and marsupial bones; fibula articulating 

with proximal end of astragalus: 1. Monotremata. 


II. Coracoid a small process codssified with the scapula (Eutheria). 
a, Marsupial bones; palate with perforations (uterus divided ; 
placenta and corpus callosum rudimental or wanting ; cere- 

bral hemispheres small and generally smooth). 

But one deciduous molar tooth : 2. Marsupialia 

aa, No marsupial bones ; palate generally entire (placenta and 
corpus callosum well developed). 

8. Anterior limb reduced to more or less inflexible paddles 
‘posterior limbs wanting (Mutilata). 

Elbow-joint fixed ; carpals discoid, and with the digits 
separated by cartilage ; lower jaw without ascending 
ramus: 3. Celacea, 

Elbow-joint flexible; carpals and phalanges with normal 
articulations; lower jaw with ascending ramus: 

4. Sirenia. 
6. Anterior limbs with flexible joints. Ungual phalanges 
compressed and pointed! (Unguiculata). 
y. Feet taxeopodous (with exceptions in the carpus). 
6. Teeth without enamel; generally no incisors. 

Limbs not volant; hemispheres small, smooth : 

\ 5. Edentata 
6d. Teeth with enamel ; incisors generally present. 

No postglenoid process; mandibular condyle not trans- 
verse ; limbs not volant ; hemispheres small, smooth : 

, 6. Glires 

Anterior limbs volant ;' hemispheres small, smooth : 

7. Chiroptera 

A postglenoid process; mandibular condyle transverse ; 
limbs not volant; no scapholunar bone?; hemi- 
spheres small, smooth : 8. Bunotheria3 

A postglenoid process ; limbs not volant, with a scapho- 
lunar bone ; hemispheres larger, convoluted : 

9. Carnivora, 


1Except Mesonychiide. 
2Except Erinaceus and Talpa. 
3 With the suborders Pantotheria, Creodonta, Insectivora, and Tillodonta 


128 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


yy. Feet diplarthrous. 
Limbs ambulatory; a postglenoid process ; molars qua- 
dritubercular : 10. Ancylopoda. 
BBG. Anterior limbs with flexible joints and distinct digits ; 
ungual phalanges not compressed and acute at apex} (Un- 
gulata’). 
e. Tarsal bones in linear series; carpals generally in linear 
series. 
Limbs ambulatory; teeth with enamel: 11. Zaxeopoda.® 
ee. Carpal series alternating ; tarsal series linear. 
Limbs ambulatory ; median digits longest; teeth with 
enamel : 12. Toxodontia. 
eee, Tarsal series alternating ; carpals linear. 
Cuboid bone partly supporting navicular, not in contact 
with astragalus ; 13. Proboscidia, 
eece, Both tarsal and carpal series more or less alternating. 
Os magnum not supporting scaphoides; cuboid sup- 
porting astragalus ; superior molars tritubercular : 
14. Amblypoda. 
Os magnum supporting scaphoides; superior molars 
quadritubercular : 4 15. Diplarthra} 


1Except the Hapalide. 
2 Lamarck, Zoologie Philosophique, 1809. 
8 This order has the following suborders: 
Carpal series linear; no intermedium; tibia not interlocking with astraga- 
lus; no anapophyses; incisors rooted; hallux not opposable: 


Condylarthra. 

Carpal series linear; an intermedium; tibia interlocking with astragalus; 
hallux not opposable: Hyracoidea 

An incermedium ; fibula not interlocking; anapophyses; hallux opposable; 
incisors growing from persistent pulps: Daubentonioidea, 

An intermedium; fibula not interlocking; anapophyses; hallux opposable; 
incisors rooted ; carpus generally linear: Quadrumana. 

No intermedium;6 nor anapophyses; carpal rows alternating; incisors 
rooted: Anthropomorpha,? 


The only difference between the Taxeopoda and the Bunotheria is in the 
unguliform terminal phalanges of the former as compared with the clawed or 
unguiculate form in the latter. The marmosets among the former division 
are, however, furnished with typical claws. 


4Except Trigonolestes. 


5 This order includes the suborders Perissodactyla and Artiodactyla. It 
is the Ungulata of some authors. 


6 Except in Simia and Hylobates. 
7TIncludés the Anthropoid apes and man. 


129 


PHYLOGENY. 


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130 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC LVOLUTION,. 


131 


PHYLOGENY. 


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132 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


The characters of the skeleton of the order Mono- 
tremata showthat it is nearest of kin to the Reptilia, and 
many subordinate characters, especially of the extrem- 
ities, point to the Theromora as its ancestral source." 
In the general characters the Marsupialia naturally 
follow in a rising scale, as proved by the increasing 
perfection of the reproductive system. The Monodel- 
phia follow with improvements in the reproductive 
system and the brain, as indicated in the table above 
given. The oldest Monodelphia were, in respect to 
the structure of the brain, much like the Marsupialia, 
and some of the existing orders resemble them in some 
parts of their brain-structure. Such are the Condylar- 
thra and Amblypoda of extinct groups, and the Buno- 
theria, Edentata, Glires, and Chiroptera, recent and 
extinct. The characters of the brains of Amblypoda 
and some Creodonta are, in their superficial char- 
acters, even inferior to existing marsupials. The di- 
vided uterus of the recent forms named, also gives 
them the position next to the Marsupialia. In the 
Carnivora, Hyracoidea, and Proboscidia, a decided ad- 
vance in both brain-structure aud reproductive system 
isevident. The hemispheres increase in size, and they 
become convoluted. A uterus is formed, and the testes 
become external, etc. In the Quadrumana and An- 
thropomorpha the culmination in these parts of the 
structure is reached, excepting only that, in the lack 
of separation of the genital and urinary efferent ducts, 
the males are inferior to those of many of the Artio- 
dactyla. This history displays a rising scale for the 
Mammalia.? 


1Proceedings American Philosoph, Society, 1884, p. 43. Antea, p. 87. 


2 See the evidence for evolution in the history of the extinct Mammalia 
Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1883. 


PHYLOGENY. 133 


Looking at the skeleton, we observe the following 
successional modifications : 

First, as to the feet, and (A) the digits. The Con- 
dylarthra have five digits on both feet, and they are 
plantigrade. This character is retained in their de- 
scendants of the lines of Anthropomorpha, Quadru- 
mana, and Hyracoidea, also in the Bunotheria, Eden- 
tata, and most of the Glires. In some of the Amblypoda 
and in the Proboscidia the palm and heel are a little 
raised. In the Carnivora and Diplarthra the heel is 
raised, often very high, above the ground, and the 
number of toes is diminished, as is well known, to two 
in the Artiodactyla and one in the Perissodactyla. 
(B) The tarsus and carpus. In the Condylarthra and 
most of the Creodonta the bones of the two series in 
the carpus and tarsus are opposite each other, so as to 
form continuous and separate longitudinal series of 
bones. This continues to be the case in the Hyracoi- 
dea and many of the Quadrumana, but in the anthro- 
poid apes and man the second row is displaced inwards 
so as to alternate with the first row, thus interrupting 
the series in the longitudinal direction, and forming a 
stronger structure than that of the Condylarthra. In 
the bunotherian, rodent, and edentate series, the tar- 
sus continues to be without alternation, as in the Con- 
dylarthra, and is generally identical in the Carnivora. 
In the hoofed series proper it undergoes change. In 
the Proboscidia the carpus continues linear, while the 
tarsus alternates. In the Amblypoda the tarsus alter- 
nates in another fashion, and the carpal bones are on 
the inner side linear, and on the outer side alternating. 
The complete interlocking by universal alternation of 
the two carpal series is only found in the Diplarthra. 
(C) As to the ankle-joint. In most of the Condylarthra 


oe 


‘azIs [PINJEU SYIUIT-OM} ‘VIYIE[APUOD Japio ay} Jo satjeyuasasdad ‘z2uvuU7100 snpormUsyg—OE ‘Sd 


PHYLOGENY. 135 


it is a flat joint or not tongued or grooved. In most 
of the Carnivora, in a few Glires, and in all Diplar- 
thra, it is deeply tongued and grooved, forming a more 
perfect and stronger joint than in the other orders, 
where the surfaces of the tibia and astragalus are flat. 
(D) In the highest forms of the Rodentia and Diplar- 
thra the fibula and ulna become more or less codssified 
with the tibia and radius, and their middle portions 
become attenuated or disappear. : 

Secondly, as regards the vertebre. The mutual 
articulations (zygapophyses) in the Condylarthra have 
flat and nearly horizontal surfaces. In higher forms, 
especially of the ungulate series, they become curved, 
the posterior turning upward and outward, and the an- 
terior embracing them on the external side. In the 
higher Diplarthra this curvature is followed by another 
curvature of the postzygapophysis upward and out- 
ward, so that the vertical section of the face of this 
process isan S. Thus is formed a very close and se- 
cure joint, such as is nowhere seen in any other Verte- 
brata. 

Thirdly, as regards the dentition. Of the two types 
of Monotremata, the Tachyglossus, and the Platy- 
pus, the known genera of the former possess no teeth, 
and the known genus of the latter possesses only a 
single corneous epidermic grinder succeeding two de- 
ciduous molars, like those of certain extinct forms, in 
each jaw. As the theromorous reptiles from which 
these are descended have well-developed teeth, their 
condition is evidently one of degeneration. We prob- 
ably have their ancestors in the Multituberculata, 
which range from Triassic to lower Eocene time in 
both hemispheres. In the marsupial order we havea 
great range of dental structure, which almost epito- 


136 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


mizes that of the monodelph orders. The dentition 
of the carnivorous forms is creodont ; that of the kan- 
garoos is perissodactyle, and that of the wombats is 
rodent. Other forms repeat the Insectivora. I there- 
fore consider the placental series especially. I have 
already shown that the greater number of the types of 
this series have derived the characters of their molar 
teeth from the stages of the following succession. 
First, a simple cone or reptilian crown, alternating 
with that of the other jaw. Second, a cone with an- 
terior and posterior lateral denticles. Third, the den- 
ticles rotated to the inner side of the crown below, and 
outer side above forming with the principal (median) 
cone a three-sided prism, with tritubercular apex, 
which alternates with that of the opposite jaw. Fourth, 
development of a heel projecting from the posterior 
base of the lower jaw, which, in mastication, meets 
the crown of the superior, forming a tubercular-sec- 
torial inferior molar. From this stage the carnivorous 
and sectorial dentition is derived, the tritubercular 
type being retained. Fifth, the development of a pos- 
terior inner cusp in the superior molar, and the eleva- 
tion of the heel in the inferior molar, with the loss of 
the anterior inner cusp. Thus the molars become qua- 
dritubercular, and opposite. This is the type of many 
of the Taxeopoda, including the Quadrumana and In- 
sectivora as well as the inferior Diplarthra. The higher 
Taxeopoda (Hyracoidea) and Diplarthra add various 
complexities. Thus the tubercles become flattened 
and then concave, so as to form V’s in the section pro- 
duced by wearing ; or they are joined by cross-folds, 
forming various patterns, of which the most special- 
ized is that of the horse. In the Proboscidia the latter 


PHYLOGENY. 137 


Fig. 37.—A, Phenacodus primavus, fore and hind limbs; 8B, Homo sapiens, 
fore and hind limbs, 


138 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


become multiplied so as to produce numerous cross- 
crests. 

The molars of some of the Sirenia are like that of 
some of the Ungulata, especially of the tapirine group, 
while in others the teeth consist of cylinders. In the 
Cetacea the molars of the oldest (Eocene and Miocene) 
types are but two-rooted and compressed, having much 
the form of the premolars of other Mammalia. In ex- 
isting forms a few have simple conical teeth, while in 
a considerable number teeth are entirely wanting. 


g. General Review of the Phylogeny of Mammatia. 


In the accompanying table some of the characters 
of the mammalian skeleton above described are thrown 
into a tabular form. They are exhibited in the order 
of their appearance in geological time, beginning with 
the oldest horizon at the bottom of the left-hand col- 
umn. Continued primitive types are enclosed in brack- 
ets. These relations were pointed out by me in 1883,! 
and every discovery made since that date has confirmed 
their correctness. Some characters of the Mesozoic 
Mammalia are now added. 

Paleontology has cleared up the phylogeny of most 
of the mammalian orders, but some of them remain as 
yet unexplained. This is the case with the Cetacea, 
the Sirenia, and the Edentata. The Marsupialia can 
be supposed with much probability to have come off 
from the Monotremata, but there is but little paleon- 
tological evidence to sustain the hypothesis. Little 
progress has been made in unravelling the phylogeny 

1 Proceedings American Assoc, Adv. Science, p. 40. The successional gra- 
dation inthe limbs and teeth was announced by me in 1873 (Proceeds. Acad- 
emy Philadelphia, p. 371, and Journal of the Academy, 1874, p. 20), and that in 


the size of the hemispheres of the brain by Marsh in 1874 (American Journal 
Sct, Arts, p. 66). 


139 


PHYLOGENY. 


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140 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


of the Cetacea and Sirenia. The results attained by 
the study of the paleontology of the other orders may 
be summarized as follows : 

First. It is probable that the common ancestors of 
the placental and implacental lines of Mammalia are 
known to us in some of the types of the Jurassic per- 
iod. Whether they were marsupial in the sense of 
possessing an external pouch for the young or not, is 
immaterial. They were probably marsupial in brain 
characters, in the structure of their reproductive sys- 
tem, and in the absence of placenta. To this source 
the existing polyprotodont marsupials may be traced, 
through such forms as Myrmecobius. The multi- 
tuberculate type has a contemporary history, and one 
distinct from that of the Polyprotodontia, and its an- 
cestry has not yet been discovered. Their earliest 
forms (of the Jurassic and Triassic) are already highly 
specialized. They probably represent the Monotre- 
mata of their time. 

Second. The immediate didelphian ancestors of the 
monodelphous Mammalia have not yet been certainly 
discovered. In the oldest of the latter (of the Puerco 
epoch) numerous points of approach to the insectivo- 
rous Jurassic forms occur, especially in the prevalent 
trituberculy of the molars in both epochs. 

Third. The phylogeny of the clawed group has 
been traced back to a common ordinal form which has 
been called the Bunotheria. Of these the most genera- 
lized are the Creodonta, from which we may trace the 
Carnivora, the Insectivora, and the Tillodonta, and 
probably all other Unguiculata. The Ancylopoda only 
have undergone the alternation of the carpal and tar- 
sal bones, which obtains in the diplarthrous Ungulata. 

fourth. The phylogeny of the hoofed groups car- 


PHYLOGENY, 141 


ries us back to the order Condylarthra, the hoofed 
cotemporary of the Bunotheria. The even and odd 
toed hoofed mammals are traceable back to the Am- 
blypoda, whose oldest representatives are the Panto- 
donta of the Puerco. The Proboscidia and Hyracoidea 
come directly from the Condylarthra. Moreover, the 
phalanges of the lemurs are not distinguishable by any 
important characters from the hoofs of the Hyracoidea 
and Condylarthra. Not only this, but the structure of 
the foot in these three groups is identical in regard to 
the mode of articulation of the first and second rows 
of the tarsal and carpal bones. 

Fifth. The characters of the feet of the Condylar- 
thra agree with those of unguiculate placental Mam- 
malia, and bind the two series together. The synthesis 
of the ungulate and unguiculate lines is accomplished 
by exceptions to the characters which define them. 
Thus the hoofs of Pantolambda (Amblypoda), Peripty- 
chus (Condylarthra), and Mesonyx (Creodonta) do not 
differ by any marked character. Claws occur in the 
Hapalide of the quadrumanous line, and the ungues 
of some Glires are absolutely intermediate between 
the hoofs and claws. Many Edentata have claws on 
the fore feet and hoofs on the hind feet. The Condy- 
larthra with tritubercular molar teeth are then trace- 
able to Bunotheria with tritubercular teeth, of which 
many are known from the Puerco beds; and the quadri- 
tubercular forms from corresponding quadritubercular 
or tritubercular Bunotheria, of which latter, some are 
known. . 

Sixth. The anthropoid line may be traced directly 
through the lemurs to the Condylarthra. The changes 
which have taken place in the skeleton are slight, and 


142. PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


consist among other points in a rotation of the second 
row of carpal bones inwards on the first row, in the 
anthropoid apes and man, similar to that which has 
occurred among the Ungulata, but it has not become 
so pronounced. 

As a result we get the general phylogenetic scheme 
as shown on the following page. 

In this diagram, divisions of greater and lesser rank 
are mixed, so as to display better some of the relation- 
ships. Thus all the divisions whose names stand on 
the right side of the middle vertical line are unguicu- 
lates ; and those on the left side of the line, excepting 
Sirenia and Cetacea, are ungulates. The three names 
in the middle vertical line are those of the suborders 
of the Taxeopoda. 

A review of the characters of the existing Mam- 
malia as compared with those of their extinct ances- 
tors displays a great deal of improvement in many 
ways, and but few instances of retrogression. The 
succession in time of the Monotremata, the Marsupia- 
lia, and the Monodelphia, is a succession of advance 
in all the characters of the soft parts and of the skele- 
ton which define them (see table of classification). As 
to the monotremes themselves, it is more than prob- 
able that the order has degenerated in some respects 
in producing the existing types. The history of the 
Monotremata is not made out, but the earliest forms 
of which we know the skeleton, Polymastodon (Cope) 
of the Lower Eocene, is as specialized as the most 
specialized recent forms. The dentition of the Juras- 
sic forms, Plagiaulax, etc., is quite specialized also, 
but not more so than that of the kangaroos. The pre- 
molars are more specialized, the true molars less spe- 
cialized than in those animals. The history of Marsu- 


143 


PHYLOGENY. 


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Snozoviauy 


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eyerdnsiey, eyao 


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VLIVTASINONG 


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quaeidiq 


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144 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


pialia indicates that the primitive types were all in- 
sectivorous, and possessed a larger number of molars 
than any of the recent forms. The latter have then 
followed the same. course as the placentals in the re- 
duction of the number of teeth and specialization of 
those that remain. 

Coming to the Monodelphia, the increase in the 
size and complication of the brain, both of the cere- 
bellum and the hemispheres, is a remarkable evidence 
of advance. But one retrogressive line in this respect 
is known, viz., that of the order Amblypoda,! where 
the brain has become relatively smaller with the pas- 
sage of time. The successive changes in the structure 
of the feet are all in one direction, viz., in the reduc- 
tion of the number of the toes, the elevation of the 
heel, and the creation of tongue and groove joints 
where plain surfaces had previously existed. The 
diminution in the number of toes might be regarded 
as a degeneracy, but the loss is accompanied by a pro- 
portional gain in the size of the toes that remain. In 
every respect the progressive change in the feet is an 
advance. In the carpus and tarsus we have a gradual 
extension of the second row of bones on the first, to the 
inner side. In the highest and latest orders this pro- 
cess is most complete, and, as it results in a more 
perfect mechanical arrangement, the change is clearly 
an advance. The same progressive improvement is 
seen in the development of distinct facets in the cubito- 
carpal articulation, and of a tongue and groove (‘‘troch- 
lear crest”) in the elbow-joint. In the vertebre the 
development of the interlocking zygapophysial articu- 
lations is a clear advance. 

Progress is generally noticeable in the dental struc- 


1See Naturalist, Jan,, 1885, p. 55. 


PHYLOGENY. 145 


tures; for, the earliest dentitions are the most simple, 
and the later the more complex. Some of the types 
retain the primitive tritubercular molars, as the Cente- 
tide, shrews, and some lemurs, and most Carnivora 
(above), but the quadritubercular and its derivative 
forms are by far the most common type in the recent 
fauna. The forms that produced the complicated mod- 
ifications in the Proboscidia and Diplarthra appeared 
latest in time, and the most complex genera, Elephas, 
Bos, and Equus, the latest of all. The extreme sec- 
torial modifications of the tritubercular type, as seen 
in the Hyznide and the Felide, are the latest of their 
line also. 

Some cases of degeneracy are, however, apparent in 
the monodelphous Mammalia. The loss of pelvis and 
posterior limbs in the two mutilate orders is clearly a 
degenerate character, since there can be no doubt that 
they have descended from forms with those parts of 
the skeleton present. The reduction of flexibility seen 
in the limbs of the Sirenia and the loss of this charac- 
ter in the fore limbs of the Cetacea are features of de- 
generacy for the same reason. The teeth in both or- 
ders have undergone degenerate evolution ; in the later 
and existing forms of the Cetacea even to extinction. 

The Edentata have undergone degeneration. This 
is chiefly apparent in the teeth, which are deprived of 
enamel, and which are wanting from the premaxillary 
bone. A suborder of the Bunotheria, the Tillodonta 
of the Lower Eocene period, display a great reduc- 
tion of enamel on the molar teeth, so that in much- 
worn examples it appears to be wanting. Its place is 
taken by an extensive coat of cementum, as is seen in 
Edentata, and the roots of the teeth are often undi- 
vided as in that order. 


146 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Local or sporadic cases of degenerate loss of parts 
are seen in various parts of the mammalian series, such 
as toothless Mammalia wherever they occur. Such 
are cases where the teeth become extremely simple, 
as in the honey-eating masupial Tarsipes, the carnivore 
Proteles, the pteropod bats, and the aye-aye. Also 
where teeth are lost from the series, as in the canine 
genus Dysodus, and in man. The loss of the hallux 
and pollex without corresponding gain, in various gen- 
era, may be regarded in the same light. 

In conclusion, the progressive may be compared 
with the retrogressive evolution of the Vertebrata, as 
follows: In the earlier periods and with the lower 
forms, retrogressive evolution predominated. In the 
higher classes progressive evolution has predominated. 
When we consider the history of the first class of ver- 
tebrates, the Tunicata, in this respect, and compare 
it with that of the last class, the Mammalia, the con- 
trast is very great. 


h. The Phylogeny of the Horse. 


As an example of special phylogeny I select that 
‘of the horse, because it is the most completely repre- 
sented by specimens in our museums. 

I have already pointed out that the alternate type 
of carpus and tarsus of the Diplarthra has been derived 
from the linear of the Taxeopoda by a displacement 
inwards of the bones of their second rows. In the pos- 
terior foot this has changed the convex surface of the 
head of the astragalus into a bifacetted face. Thus 
was the condylarthrous astragalus modified into that 
of the Diplarthra. At the beginning of the line of 
the horses we find the condylarthrous genus of the 
Wasatch Eocene, Phenacodus Cope, to differ in this 


PHYLOGENY. 147 


way from the perissodactylous genus Hyracotherium 
Owen. Phenacodontide are indicated as the ances- 
tors of all the Ungulata by their character as ‘‘buno- 
dont pentadactyle plantigrades,”’ characters in which 
they agree with the ancestors of all placental mam- 
mals. That they are not the ancestors of all the latter 
is shown by the fact that their molar type is quadritu- 
bercular; but one has to go backwards but a short 
distance in time to the Puerco epoch, to find their tri- 
tubercular ancestors. Between these and Phenaco- 
dus, comes the quadritubercular genus Euprotogonia 
Cope, of the Puerco, which has simpler premolar teeth. 

Between Phenacodus and Hyracotherium there is 
room for two or more genera with fully facetted car- 
pals and tarsals, longer feet, and a rudimental first toe 
on the anterior foot, and first and fifth toes on the hind 
foot. In Hyracotherium these digits have disappeared. 
Further, in Hyracotherium the internal cusps of the 
molars are more or less connected with the external 
by low and indistinct ridges, which in the superior 
molars include the small intermediate tubercles or 
conules. Thus is the lophodont dentition foreshad- 
owed. Hyracotherium was a contemporary of Phe- 
nacodus and continued later in Eocene time. Some 
of its forms developed an increased complexity of the 
last premolars in both jaws, forming the genus Pliolo- 
_phus, and foreshadowing the development of molar- 
like premolars, which is so characteristic of the later 
members of the horse line. In the genus Epihippus 
Marsh, of one epoch later in time (the Uinta), two 
such premolars are developed in each jaw. We have 
seen very short interspaces next the canine teeth in 
Phenacodus, and these have become longer in Hyra- 
cotherium and Epihippus. 


148 PRIMARY FACTORS OF OKGANIC EVOLUTION. 


With the opening of the Neocene age, we have the 
descendant of Epihippus in Mesohippus Marsh, which 
differs from its predecessor as follows. There are but 
three toes on all the feet; three premolars resemble 
the true molars ; the crests which connect the internal 
pair of cusps with the external in both jaws, are much 
more elevated, and soon form on wearing a part of the 
pattern of the crown. Hyracotherium already walked 
on the ends of its toes, and the feet of Mesohippus 
continue the character. The crowns of all the molars 
are short like those of its ancestors. In the Middle 
Neocene formations we have the genus Anchitherium 
Kaup, where the incisor teeth show the addition of a 
ridge, or cingulum round the inner side, which bounds 
a cup; forming the cupped incisors so characteristic 
of the horses. The species have been all the while 
growing gradually larger. 

Towards the end of Neocene time important pro- 
gress was made. In the Loup Fork epoch the three 
toed horses were very numerous in species, but their 
lateral toes were all much shortened so that they did 
not reach the ground. The crests of the molar teeth 
were much stronger, and in the superior series the 
conules had assumed a greater importance, extending 
themselves posteriorly from the transverse crests, and 
showing crescentic sections, resembling those of the 
outer cusps, with which they are parallel. The an- 
terior conule extended so far posteriorly as to join the 
posterior one, resembling in this respect also the an- 
terior external cusp. So the crown came to have six 
modified cusps of which the two inner are the smallest 
and remain unconnected with each other. The crowns 
of the moiars vary in length in these later three-toed 
horses. Some are short like the Anchitheriums, and 


PHYLOGENY. 149 


others are longer, approaching the true horses. In the 
valleys between these high cusps cement is deposited, 
as in the true horses and other mammals with long- 
crowned molars. There are two types of these later 
three-toed horses. In one the posterior inner cusp is 
not joined to the conule by a transverse crest (genus 
Hippotherium Kaup), or it is so joined (genus Pro- 
thippus Leidy). 

Plistocene times witnessed the perfection of the 
horse line. The lateral toes dwindled into splints 
concealed beneath the skin. The crowns of the molar 
teeth became very long, and in the upper jaw the inner 
posterior tubercle, now a column, joined the adjacent 
conule, and became extended very much in fore and 
aft diameter. The small anterior premolar disap- 
peared, and the canines became the mark of the male 
sex only, in general. The lower molars acquire some 
additional complications, and the feet are longer than 
in any of its ancestors. The genus Equus L. is fin- 
ished, and remains a permanent member of the human 
epoch, from which its only relatives, the rhinoceros 
and the tapir, are gradually disappearing. 

This history may be duplicated in ‘manner and 
mode, by the lines of the camels, the dogs and bears, 
the cats, the beaver, etc. 

Examination of all these genealogical lines reveals 
a certain definiteness of end and directness of approach. 
We discover no accessions of characters which are 
afterwards lost, as would naturally occur as a result of 
undirected variation. Nor do we discover anything 
like the appearance of sports along the line, the word 
sport being used in the sense of a variation widely di- 
vergent from its immediate ancestor. On the con- 
trary, the more thorough becomes our knowledge of 


150 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


the series, the more evident does it become that pro- 
gressive evolution has advanced by minute increments 
along a definite line, and that variations off this line 
have not exerted an appreciable influence on the re- 
sult. 


2. The Phylogeny of Man. 


In man the feet retain the pentadactyle plantigrade 
type with scarcely grooved astragalo-tibial articula- 
tion, which characterizes the Mammalia of the Puerco 
epoch, and most of those of the Lower Eocene.!_ His 
dentition is not lophodont, but is simply bunodont, like 
that of the Phenacodontidez of the Lower Eocene. It 
is only in the structure of the brain and the reproduc- 
tive system that man shows an advance over the Eocene 
type. In the former he greatly excels any mammal 
that has appeared since; a superiority already apparent 
in one of his early ancestors, the anaptamorphous lemur 
of the Lower Eocene. In the reproductive system he 
is about on a par with the higher Artiodactyla, although 
the male, in the persistent union of the genital and urin- 
ary efferent ducts is not so much specialized as some of 
the latter, where they are distinct. It is an interesting 
fact that man displays in his dentition strong tenden- 
cies to a greater specialization by simplification beyond 
the ordinary quadrumanous type, by reduction in the 
number of the true molarsand incisors. Thus the M.3is 
not unfrequently absent in the highest races, and some 
families display a rudimental condition and absence of 
the 1.2. : 

Much importance attaches to the composition of 
the molar dentition. Many years ago, Owen? called 


1This fact was first pointed out by myself in the Penn Monthly Magazine, 
1875; see Origin of the Fittest, p. 268. 


2Odontography, 1840-5, p. 454. 


PHYLOGENY. I51 


attention to the fact that in the dark races the roots of 
the last superior molar are distinct from each other, 
while in the Indo-Europeans they are known to be 


Fig. 38.—Fig «, skull of Anaptomorphus homunculus Cope, natural size. 
Fig. 4, same, oblique view, displaying the large cerebral hemispheres. Fig.c, 
superior view of skull, natural size. Fig. @, inferior view, three-halves natural 
size. Lower figs. 2, 4, and ¢, left branch of lower jaw of Anaptomorphus emu- 
dus Cope, twice natural size; a, from left side; 4, inner side; c, from above. 


more or less fused together. These now well-known 
characteristics of human dentition constitute one of 
the examples of transition from a simian to a human 


152 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


type. Ihave pointed out a corresponding modifica- 
tion in the structure of the crown of the superior true 
molars, viz.: the transition from a quadritubercular to a 
tritubercular structure in passing from the lower to the 
higher races. As this point has some interesting im- 
plications in the earlier phylogeny of man, and as its 
value has been disputed, I give it a little attention. 
The facts of the case are as follows: I have dem- 
onstrated! the fact that all forms of dentition exhibited 
by the eutherian mammals have been derived from a 
primitive tritubercular type. Professor Osborn says 
that he expects to be able to do the same for the multi- 
tuberculate (? Prototherian) dentition. I have also 
shown that man exhibits a tendency to revert from his 
primitive quadritubercular molar to this tritubercular 
type.? As to the significance of these facts, I have 
expressed the view that this acquisition of a tritubercu- 
lar molar is a reversion to the lemurine type. This 
conclusion is necessary because the lemurs are the last 
of the families in the line of the ancestry of man which 
present this dentition. The monkeys and anthropoid 
apes are all quadritubercular, except a few limited col- 
lateral branches of the former, which still retain the 
lemurine type. There are also a few collateral types 
of lemurs which have acquired one or more quadri- 
tubercular niolars, but they are not typical. In many 
tritubercular mammals, a precocious form or two can 
be found, which has acquired the fourth tubercle. But 
the further back we go in time, the fewer they become, 
until, in the Puerco fauna, of eighty-two species of 


1 Proceeds. Amer. Philos, Soc., Dec., 1883; Origin of the Fittest, 1887, pp 
245, 347, 359- 
2American Journal of Morphology, \1., 1883, p. 7. 


PHYLOGENY. 153 


eutherian mammals, but four have true quadritubercu- 
lar superior molars. ; 

I take this opportunity of saying, however, that re- 
version is not necessarily a result of heredity. It may 
be simply a retrogression on a line of advance already 
laid down. What influence lemurine heredity may 
have had in the case of man, it is not easy to know. 
But it must be borne in mind that various forms of 
degeneracy of molar teeth are possible other than the 
resumption of the tritubercular type, yet the normal 
reduction generally presented is just this lemurine and 
primitive eutherian condition. The simplicity of the 
elements involved, has something, but not everything, 
to do with this reversion. 

Dr. Paul Topinard has made an investigation ! of 
the characters of the crowns of the molars in man, and 
hasreached general conclusions identical with my own. 
He remarks (p. 665): ‘‘It is demonstrated, in conclu- 
sion, that the teeth of man are, at present, in process 
of transformation, and that in some future which is re- 
mote the inferior molars shall certainly be quadri- 
cuspid, and the superior molars tricuspid. It will be 
curious to have the statistics as to prehistoric man; 
unfortunately, their crania are rare, and their molars 
generally much worn.” In the details of his examina- 
tion, there are some divergencies from my results. 
Thus he finds the quadritubercular second and third 
superior molar relatively of more frequent occurrence 
in Europeans than I did. But the absence of Europeo- 
Americans from his tables reduces the percentage of 
trituberculars in the Indo-Europeans. He makes no 
report of Esquimaux. Had he observed this type, he 
would have found a higher per cent. of tritubercular 


2L' Anthropologie, 1892, p. 641 {Nov., Dec.). 


154 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


upper molars than in any race that he has recorded. 
He confirms my conclusion as to the high percentage 
of quadritubercular superior molars in the Malays, 
Polynesians, and Melanesians. 

The relation of this fact to phylogeny is to confirm 
Haeckel’s hypothesis of the lemurine ancestry of man. 
I have advanced the further hypothesis that the An- 
thropomorpha (which include man and the anthropoid 
apes) have been derived directly from the lemurs, with- 
‘out passing through the monkeys proper. This close 
association of man with the apes, is based on various 
considerations. One of them is that the skeleton of 
the anthropoid apes more nearly resembles that of 
man in the most important respects than it does that 
of the monkeys. This is especially true of the verte- 
bral column, where the anapophyses are wanting in 
the Anthropomorpha (insignificant rudiments remain- 
ing on one or two vertebre, as pointed out by Mivart), 
while they are well developed in the monkeys and 
lemurs. The molar teeth of the apes and man resem- 
ble each other more than either do those of the mon- 
keys, since they lack the crests which connect the 
cusps, which are general in the latter. 

The frequent presence of the tritubercular molar in 
man suggests the superior claim of the lemurs over the 
monkeys to the position of ancestor. Another signifi- 
cant fact pointing in the same direction is the existence 
of large-brained lemurs with a very anthropoid denti- 
tion (Anaptomorphidz) in our Eocene beds, which have 
the dental formula of man and the Old World monkeys 
andapes. This resemblance is very remarkable, much 
exceeding that lately observed by Ameghino in certain 
extinct forms of monkeys in Patagonia, which appear 
to be ancestors of the existing South American mon- 


PHYLOGENY. 155 


keys (Cebidz), and possibly of the Old World monkeys 
also. The superior molars of the Anaptomorphus are 
tritubercular, while the premolars, canines, and in- 
cisors are essentially anthropomorphous, and rather 
human than simian. Anaptomorphus is probably at 
the same time the ancestor of the Malaysian lemurine 
genus Tarsius, and M. Topinard remarks that Tarsius 
has as good claims to be regarded as ancestral to 
Homo as Anaptomorphus. But M. Topinard must be 
aware that in the existing genus the character of the 
canine and incisive dentition is very unlike that of the 
Anaptomorphus and Homo. It is specialized in a 
different direction. The dentition of Anaptomorphus 
being so generalized as compared with Tarsius, I sus- 
pect that its skeleton will be found to present corre- 
sponding characters. Of course, if it be found here- 
after to have the foot structure of Tarsius (which I do 
not anticipate), it cannot be included in the ancestry 
of the Anthropomorpha. 

It must be further observed that the ancestral line 
of the Anthropomorpha cannot be traced through any 
existing type of Lemuride, but through the extinct 
forms of the Eocene period.! This is on account of 
the peculiar specialization of the inferior canines, which 
are incisor-like, and because of the peculiar character 
of the incisors themselves, in the modern lemurs in 
the restricted sense. But we have numerous lemurine 
types of the Eocene of both America and Europe 
which satisfy the conditions exactly, so far as the den- 
tition is concerned. These are mostly referable to the 
family Adapide. 

Unfortunately, we do not know the entire skeletons 


1On the Primitive Types of the Orders of the Mammalia Educabilia, 1873, 
p. 8. 


156 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


of these Eocene lemurs, but as far as we have them 
(genera Tomitherium and Adapis) they are monkey- 
like. But we have what is almost as useful, the skel- 
eton of their Eocene and Puerco ancestors, the Con- 
dylarthra. I long since pointed out that the latter 
order (not the genus Phenacodus, as Lydekker has 


ae pe 


Fig. 39.—Tomitherium rostratum Cope, one of the Adapide, mandible, 
natural size; a, from left side; 4, from above. Original, from Report U. S. 
Geol. Survey Terrs., Vol. III. 
represented me as saying) must be the ancestors of 
the lemurs, basing my views expressly on the general 
structure of the Phenacodus, Periptychus, and Menis- 
cotherium. The structure of the ungual phalanges of 
Periptychus is very significant, and even more so is 
that in Meniscotherium, as recently shown by Marsh, 


PHYLOGENY. 157 


who adopts (without credit) my hypothesis of lemurine 
affinities of the Condylarthra (which he renames the 
Mesodactyla). From Condylarthra back to Creodonta 
is an easy transition, and I have always assumed that 
the Creodonta were derived from generalized polypro- 


Fig. 40.— Tomitherzum ros- 
tratum Cope, fore arm, five- 


sixths natural size, Original, 
6, ulna; ¢, radius. 


todont Mursupialia. This view 
has been entirely confirmed by 
the recent discoveries of Ame- 
ghino in Patagonia, where he. 
has found forms whose remains 
may be referred with equal pro- 
priety to the one group or the 
other. M. Topinard has been 
rather hasty in reaching the 
marsupial ancestry in suppos- 
ing that Phenacodus belongs to 
that order. All the evidence 
shows that Phenacodus is a 
generalized ungulate placental. 
To return to the more im- 
mediate ancestry of man. I 
have expressed,! and now main- 
tain as a working hypothesis, 
that all the Anthropomorpha 
were descended from the Eo 
cene lemuroids. In my sys- 
tem? the Anthropomorpha in- 
cludes the two families Homi- 
nide and Simiide. The sole 


difference between these families is seen in the struc- 
ture of the posterior foot; the Simiide having the 


lAmerican Naturalist, 1885, p. 467. 
2 Origin of the Fittest, 1887, p. 346, from American Naturalist, 1885, p. 344, 
where the classification of the Taxeopoda should be in a foot-note; oc. cit., 


1889, October. 


158 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


hallux opposable, while 
in the Hominide the 
hallux is not opposable. 
This is not a strong 
character, since it de- 
pends ona slight differ- 
ence in the form of the 
entocuneiform bone. In 
some vertebrates, as the 
tree-frogs, the same and 
similar characters (ge- 
nus Phyllomedusa) are 
not regarded as of fam- 
ily value. It is then 
highly probable that 
Homo is’ descended 
from some form of the 
Anthropomorpha now 
extinct, and probably 
unknown at present, al- 
though we do not yet 
know all the charac- 
ters of some extinct 
supposed Simiide, of 
which fragments only 
remain to us. It cannot 
now be determined 
whether man and the 
Simiidze were both de- 
scended from a genus 
with opposable hallux, 
or without opposable 
hallux, or whether from 
a genus presenting an 


Fig. 41.— Tomitherium rostratum Cope, 
five-sixths natural size; a, ilium; 4, femur. 
Original. 


PHYLOGENY. 159 


intermediate character in this respect. This genus 
was, in arty case, distinct from either of the two existing 
genera of Simiide, Simia and Hylobates, since these 
present varied combinations of anthropoid resem- 
blances and differences, of generic and specific value. 

Professor Virchow in a late address! has thrown 
down the gage to the evolutionary anthropologists by 
asserting that ‘scientific anthropology begins with 
living races,” adding ‘that the first step in the con- 
struction of the doctrine of transformism will be the 
explanation of the way the human races have been 
formed,” etc. But the only way of solving the latter 
problem will be by the discovery of the ancestral 
races, which are extinct. The ad captandum remarks 
of the learned professor as to deriving an Aryan from 
a Negro, etc., remind one of the criticisms directed 
at the doctrine of evolution when it was first presented 
to the public, as to a horse never producing a cow, 
etc. It is well known to Professor Virchow that hu- 
man races present greater or less approximations to 
the simian type in various respects. Such are the 
flat coéssified nasal bones of the Bushmen; the qua- 
dritubercular molars of the Polynesians; the flat ilia 
and prognathous jaws of the Negro; the flat shin- 
bones of various races; the divergent hallux of some 
aborigines of farther India, etc. Professor Virchow 
states that the Neanderthal man is a diseased subject, 
but the disease has evidently not destroyed his race 
characters; and in his address he ignores the important 
and well-authenticated discovery of the man and wo- 
man of Spy. These observations are reinforced by 
recent discovery of a similar man by DuBois at Trinil 


1 Popular Science Monthly, January, 1893, p. 373, translated. 


160 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


in the island of Java. To these ancient people I will 
now devote some space. 
What had been long suspected is now established, 


Fig. 42,_Megaladapis madagascariensis Forsyth Major, 4% natural size; lemuroid from Plis- 
tocene bed of Madagascar, with tritubercular superior molars. From Forsyth Major. 
through the discovery and descriptions of Messrs. 
Fraipont and Lohest of Liége; viz. that there dwelt in 
Europe during Paleolithic times a race of men which 


PHYLOGENY. 162 


possessed a greater number of simioid characteristics 
than any which has been discovered elsewhere. ‘The 
important discovery in the grotto of Spy of two skele- 
tons, almost complete, served to unify knowledge of 
this race, which had previously rested on isolated frag- 
ments only. These skeletons proved what had been 
previously only surmised, that the lower jaws of Nau- 
lette, and of Shipka, and probably the skeleton of 
Neanderthal, belong to one and the same race. The 


Fig. 43.—Skull of the man of Spy. From Prof. G. F. Wright’s Man and 
the Glacial Period. From a photograph. 
simian characters of these parts of the skeleton are 
well known. These are the enormous superciliary 
ridges and glabella; the retreating frontal region; the 
thickness of the cranial wall; the massive mandibular 
ramus with rudimentary chin, and the large size of the 
posterior molars. Messrs. Fraipont and Lohest have 
added other characters to these, viz.: the tibia shorter 
than in any other known human race; the sigmoid 
flexure of the femur; the divergent curvature of the 
bones of the fore-arm, and most important, a very 


162 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


peculiar form of the posterior face of the mandibular 
symphysis, already pointed out by Topinard in the jaw 


From Fraipont and Lohest. 


Fig. 44.—Outlines of calvaria; of the Neanderthal man in solid line; of the Spy man No.1 in dots, and 


of the Spy man No. 2 in broken line. 


of Naulette. On these characters the following re- 
marks may be made.! 
I. The prominent superciliary crests, which are 


1 Archives Belges de Biologie, V11., 1886, p. 731, Gand. 


PHYLOGENY. 163 


characteristic of the Neanderthal race. No existing 
race presents such a development, neither the Papu- 
ans, Australians, nor Negroes of any race. But we 
find the superciliary crests and underlying sinuses 
identical in adult female orangs and chimpanzees and 
young male gorillas. Inthe female chimpanzees the 
crests are almost inferior in size to those of the man of 
Spy. 

II. The retreating forehead of the two crania of 
Spy is not found in any existing human race, while it 
is typical of that of Neanderthal. It is characteristic 
of female orangs and gorillas and of the young males 
of both species, and of adult males and female chim- 
panzees. It appears in existing men in rare and iso- 
lated cases; [probably as survivals]. 

III. The prominent transverse superior semicircu- 
lar crest of the occipital bone is found in existing races 
among the Fellahs of Africa and the Nigritos. It is 
characteristic of the Neanderthal skulls, and presents 
exactly the same characters as the young male and 
female orang and gorilla and young male and adult 
female of the chimpanzee. 

IV. No human race presents the characters of the 
lower jaw exhibited by those of Spy, Naulette, and 
Shipka. In this part of their osteology the anthro- 
poids depart widely from man, the most conspicuous 
point in the latter being the presence of a chin. Ac- 
cordingly, the angle formed by the anterior face of the 
symphysis with the inferior border of the horizontal 
ramus, is less than a right angle in man, and much 
more than a right angle in the anthropoids. According 
to Topinard, this angle in fifteen Parisians is 71.4°; in 
fifteen African Negroes, 82.2°; in fifteen Neocaledo- 
nians, 83.9°; in the jaw of Naulette, 94°. In the best 


164 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


preserved jaw of Spy the angle is 107°, if measured 
from the inferior symphysial border, or go° if meas- 


A B 
:) 
c.. 
B 
M~ 
Cc D E 


Fig. 45.—Vertical sections of symphysis mandibuli of gorilla (Fig. 4), and 
orang (Fig. 2), of chimpanzee (Fig. C), of Spy man No.1 (Fig. D), and Spy man 
No. 2 (Fig. £). From Fraipont and Lohest. 
ured from the inferior border of the ramus. There 
is no chin in the jaw of the Spy race, and the large 
angle approaches without nearly equaling that of the 


PHYLOGENY. 165 


anthropoids. But the posterior face of the symphysis 
presents the most remarkable peculiarity. In the 
symphysis of the apes (Fig. 54, 4, B, C) the posterior 
border is a continuous slope from the alveolar border 
to the inferior margin, interrupted by a slight concav- 
ity below the middle. In the human jaw this line 
slopes backward to near the middle, where are situated 
the small tuberosities for the insertion of the genio- 
glossal muscles. (B in the accompanying figures.) The 
surface then slopes rapidly forward to pass into the 
narrow inferior border of the chin (Fig. 46, 7, G). In 
the jaws Naulette and Spy the structure is exactly in- 
termediate between the two, and quite different from 
both (Fig. 45, D, £). It commences above with a pos- 
terior slope similar to that of the apes, exhibiting 
what is called by Topinard ‘internal prognathism,” 
as it appears in the lower human races. The surface 
then descends abruptly, forming a vertical concavity, 
which is bounded a considerable distance below by 
another protuberance, the insertion of the genioglossal 
muscles. This concavity is not present in the human 
symphysis, while it is less developed in the simian. 
The surface then slopes forward, as in the human sym- 
physis, but this portion is shorter than in human jaws 
generally. It is represented by a convex face in the 
simian jaw. ‘This character, taken in connection with 
the others cited, goes a long way toward justifying the 
separation of the Neanderthal race as a distant species, 
as has been done by some author under the name of 
Homo neanderthalensis. This name is objectionable but 
must be retained. 

To these observations Messrs. Fraipont and Lohest 
add the following. 

V. The curvature of the ulna and radius, which 


166 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


produces a wide interosseous space, is not found in any 
human race, but is common to the apes. On the con- 
trary, the shortness of these bones is entirely human. 

VI. The anterior convexity of the femur, with its 
round section, is only found among living races among 
the Nigritos of the Philippine Islands. It is seen ina 
less degree in femora of Neolithic men, and occasional 
instances are seen among existing Europeans. It is 
the normal condition in the apes. 

VII. The tibia is shorter in its relation to the femur 
than in any human race, and is more robust than in 


OA 


fF G 


Fig. 46.—Sections of symphysis mandibuli of modern Litgois (Fig. /) 
and of an ancient Parisian (Fig. G). From Fraipont and Lohest. 


most of them. This character, with the oval section, 
while not identical with what is seen in the apes, forms 
an approximation to it. 

Messrs. Fraipont and Lohest have pointed out the 
general characters of the dentition of the man of Spy. 
They show that the molars increase in size posteriorly 
to the same extent that they do in the apes, which is 
the reverse of what is usual in man, where they dimin- 
ish posteriorly, or, in a few lower races (Australians, 
etc.), remain equal. They show that the superior mo- 
lars are all quadritubercular, and that the internal root 


4a 2a 


Fig. 47.—Molar teeth of man. 1-2, man and woman of Spy; 3, Maori; 4, Tahitian; 5-6, Fan, 7, Esquimau. 


168 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


is distinct in all of them. Through the kindness of 
M. Lohest I received casts and photographs of these 
teeth, and I give here figures of the former (Fig. 47), 
which are more satisfactory than those in the memoir 
from which J have already quoted so fully, where, in- 
deed, the grinding faces are not represented at all. 

The figures accompanying! show the large size of 
the last superior molar, which exceeds in its propor- 
tions those of the corresponding tooth in the chimpan- 
zee. The fourth tubercle, or hypocone, is especially 
large. In the male the crowns are more produced 
posteriorly than in man generally, and remind one of 
the character seen in the orang. The strong divergence 
of the internal root of the last molar is shown in No. 
2a, and the corresponding character in a Maori and a 
Fan from tropical Africa is shown in Nos. 3 and 5a. 
The quadritubercular crown of the last superior molar 
of a Tahitian is shown in No. 4.4; and the roots, which 
are exceptionally fused nearly as much as in the typi- 
cal Indo-European, are shown in No. 4. 

Dr. Eugene Dubois of the Army of the Netherlands 
has recently published in Batavia, Java, in a brochure 
in quarto, an account of some bones of an interesting 
quadrumanous mammal allied to man, which were 
found in a sedimentary bed of material of volcanic ori- 
gin of probably Plistocene age, near a village called 
Trinil. The remains consist of a calvarium which in- 
cludes the supraorbital ridges and a part of the occi- 
put; a last superior upper molar, and a femur. The 
tooth was found close to the skull and belongs probably 
to the same individual as the latter, while the reference 
of the femur is more uncertain, as it was found some 
fifty feet distant. 


1From The American Naturalist, April, 1893. 


PHYLOGENY. 169 


The characters of the skull are closely similar to 
those of the men of Neanderthal and of Spy, but the 
walls are not so thick as those of the former, and more 
nearly resemble those of the latter. The frontal region 
is, therefore, much depressed, and it is also much con- 
stricted posterior to the postorbital borders. The su- 
tures are obliterated. Dr. Dubois states that the cranial 
capacity is just double that of the gorilla, and two-thirds 
that of the lowest normal of man, bridging the gap 
which has long separated the latter from the apes. 
Thus the capacity of the former is 500 cubic centime- 
tres, and the latter is 1500 cubic centimetres. In the 
Java man the capacity is 1000 cubiccentimetres. The 
last upper molar has widely divergent roots,.as in apes 
and inferior races of man, and the crown is large, with 
the cusps not clearly differentiated, showing a character 
commonly observed in the lower molars of the gorilla. 
The femur is long, straight, and entirely human. This 
discovery of Dr. Dubois adds to our knowledge of the 
physical characters of the Paleolithic man, and espe- 
cially to his geographical range. 

As regards the proper appellation of this being, 
Dr. Dubois is not happy. He proposes for him a 
new genus Pithecanthropus (after Haeckel), and even 
anew family, Pithecanthropide, without having shown 
that he is not a member of the genus Homo. It is 
not certain that he is not an individual of the species 
Homo neanderthalensis. is cranial capacity is less, it 
is true, than that of the man of Spy, but Virchow has 
pointed out that some of the Nigritos possess a remark- 
ably small cranial capacity, as little as 950 cubic centi- 
metres, and an inhabitant of New Britain only 860 
cubic centimetres, a capacity even smaller than that of 
the man of Trinil. Until we learn the characters of 


170 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


the lower jaw of the latter we shall be in doubt as to 
whether this individual pertains to the Homo sapiens 
or the Homo neanderthalensis. 

The characters of the dentition, cranium, and limbs 
which have been observed in the Paleolithic man, are 
not without parallel in existing races, though the char- 
acters do not generally occur together in the latter. 
The supposition that all the Paleolithic men so far 
found are all pathological subjects is not a probable 
solution of the question, although this type was no 
doubt subject to pathological conditions such as have 
been found in the leg-bones of the men of Neanderthal 
and Trinil. The characters of the symphysis of the 
lower jaw are quite sufficient to separate the Neander- 
thal man as a distinct species of the genus Homo.! 
This character is not pathological but it is zodlogical, 
and places that species between Homo sapiens and the 
apes. 

In conclusion, it may be observed that we have in 
the Homo neanderthalensis a greater number of simian 
characteristics than exist in any of the known races of 
the Homo sapiens, although, so far as known, he be- 
longs to the genus Homo. ‘The posterior foot, so far 
as preserved, indicates this to be the case. The foot- 
character, which distinguishes the genera Homo and 
Simia still remains. There is still, to use the language 
of Fraipont and Lohest, ‘‘an abyss’’ between the man 
of Spy and the highest ape ; though, from a zoélogical 
point of view, it is not a wide one. 

The flints which were discovered in the stratum of 
cave deposit containing the human remains, are of the 
Paleolithic type known as Mousterien in France, which 


1 This view was first insisted on in an article on the Genealogy of Manin 
the American Naturalist, 1893, p. 331. 


PHYLOGENY. I7I 


are of later origin than the Chelléen or older Paleo- 
lithic. The older Paleolithic man is not yet known. 
It is interesting to observe that these flints (Mouste- 
rien) are of the same form as the obsidian implements 
which I collected at Fossil Lake, in Oregon, with the 
bones of extinct Ilamas, horses, elephants, sloth, etc. 
The animals which accompanied the man of Spy are, 
Celodonta antiguitatis (wooly rhinocetos), Eguus ca- 
ballus, Cervus elaphus, Cervus tarandus, Bos primigenius, 
Elephas primigenius, Ursus speleus, Meles taxus, Hyena 
spelea ; five extinct and four existing species. 

As the evidence now stands, the most primitive and 
simian of human races inhabited the Old World. No 
trace of the Homo neanderthalensis has been found in 
America. As, however, Paleolithic implements are 
found in all continents, we may anticipate that this or 
some similar species of man will be discovered there 
also. The genealogy of man may be then represented 
as follows: 


CLASS & BRANCH ORDER AND FAMILY. GEOL. SYSTEM 
Hominide Plistocene 
Simiidze Neocene 
Adapidz Eocene 

Mammalia Condylarthra Cretaceous 

Creodonta 

Marsupialia polyprotodontia Jurassic 
Monotremata Triassic 

Reptilia Theromora Carbonic 

Batrachia Batrachia Stegocephali Carbonic 

Pisces Teleostomi Rhipidopterygia 
Elasmobranchii Ichthyotomi 

Agnatha q 

Cephalochorda _Leptocardii 

Vermes i 

Ceelenterata 1. 

Protozoa 1 


1 Subordinate type not specified. 


172 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


3. THE LAW OF THE UNSPECIALIZED. 


The facts cited in the preceding parts of this chap- 
ter show that the phylogenetic lines have not been 
continuous, but that they may be represented by a 
system of dichotomy. In other words, the point of 
departure of the progressive lines of one period of time 
has not been from the terminal types of the lines of 
preceding ages, but from points farther back in the 
series. Thus it is not the highly developed or spe- 
cialized ‘plants which have given origin to the animal 
kingdom, but the lowest forms or Protophyta, which 
are not distinguishable from the Protozoa. Among 
animals it is not the specialized Arthropoda or Mol- 
lusca which present the closest affiliations with the 
Vertebrata, but the simple Vermes or Tunicata, from 
which the origin of the latter may be traced. In the 
Vertebrata it is not the higher fishes (Actinopterygia) 
which offer the closest points of affinity to the succeed- 
ing batrachian class, but that more generalized type 
of the Devonic period, the Rhipidopterygia, which 
probably occupies that position. The modern types of 
Batrachia (Urodela, Salientia) have plainly not fur- 
nished the starting-point for the reptiles, but the an- 
cient order of the Stegocephali, which are also fish- 
like, is evidently their source. The Reptilia of the 
Permian present us with types with fish-like vertebre 
(Cotylosauria, Pelycosauria), from which the class 
Mammalia may be distinctly traced. The later reptiles 
diverged farther and farther from the mammalian type 
with the advance of geologic time. The same prin- 
ciple has been found to be true in tracing the history 


PHYLOGENY. 173 


of the subdivisions of the great classes, in the preceding 
section. 

Agassiz and Dana pointed out this fact in taxon- 
omy, and I expressed it as an evolutionary law under 
the name of the ‘‘ Doctrine of the Unspecialized.” 
This describes the fact that the highly developed, or 
specialized types of one geologic period have not been 
the parents of the types of succeeding periods, but 
that the descent has been derived from the less spe- 
cialized of preceding ages. No better example of this 
law can be found than man himself, who preserves in 
his general structure the type that was prevalent dur- 
ing the Eocene period, adding thereto his superior 
brain-structure. 

The validity of this law is due to the fact that the 
specialized types of all periods have been generally in- 
capable of adaptation to the changed conditions which 
characterized the advent of new periods. Changes of 
climate and food consequent on disturbances of the 
earth’s crust have rendered existence impossible to 
many plants and animals, and have rendered life pre- 
carious to others. Such changes have been often espe- 
cially severe in their effects on species of large size, 
which required food in large quantities. The results 
have been degeneracy or extinction. On the other 
hand plants and animals of unspecialized habits have 
survived. For instance, plants not especially restricted 
to definite soils, temperatures, or degrees of humidity, 
would survive changes in these respects better than 
those that have been so restricted. Animals of om- 
nivorous food-habits would survive where those which 
required special foods, would die. Species of small 
size would survive a scarcity of food, while large ones 
would perish. It is true, as observed by Marsh, that 


174 PRIM1RY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


the lines of descent of Mammalia have originated or 
been continued through forms of small size. The 
same is true of all other Vertebrata. 

It is not to be inferred from the reality of the law of 
‘‘the unspecialized” that each period has been de- 
pendent on the simplest of preceding forms of life for 
its population. Definite progress has been made, and 
highly specialized characters have been gradually de- 
veloped, and have passed successfully through the 
vicissitudes of geologic revolutions. But these have 
not been the most specialized of their respective ages. 
They have presented a combination of effective struc- 
ture with plasticity, which has enabled them to adapt 
themselves to changed conditions. 

In a large number of cases in each geologic age 
forms have been successful in the struggle for existence 
through the adoption of some mode of life parasitic on 
other living beings. Such habits reduce the struggle 
to a minimum, and the result has been always degen- 
eracy. In other cases it is to be supposed that ex- 
tremely favorable conditions of food, with absence of 
enemies, would have occurred, in which the struggle 
would have been almost nil. Degeneracy would fol- 
low this condition also. On the other hand, extreme 
severity of the struggle cannot have been favorable to 
propagation and survival, so that here also we have a 
probable cause of degeneracy. Degeneracy is a fact 
of evolution, as already remarked, and its character is 
that of an extreme specialization, which has been, like 
an overperfection of structure, unfavorable to sur- 
vival. 

In general, then, it has been the ‘‘golden mean” 
of character which has presented the most favorable 
condition of survival, in the long run. 


CHAPTER III.—PARALLELISM. 


T IS now generally recognized that the successive 
types of organic beings present characters which 
are traversed in the embryonic life of those which at- 
tain the greatest complexity of development, and which 
occupy the highest places in the scale of life. This 
fact was observed by the early embryologists, as Von 
Baer and Agassiz, who did not admit its bearing on 
the doctrine of evolution. But Darwin and Spencer 
understood its significance, and Haeckel, Hyatt, and 
the writer applied it directly to the explanation of phy- 
logeny. At the present time one of the chief aims of 
the science of embryology is to discover the record of 
the history of the past, recapitulated in the stages of 
embryonic life, and to unravel the phylogenesis of 
plants and animals by this method. The utility of 
these researches is attested by the results which they 
have attained, though for obvious reasons, these are 
not as definite and conclusive as those which are de- 
rived from paleontology. The general conclusion is 
however justified, i. e., that the records of embryology 
and paleontology are closely similar, and that any dis- 
cordance between them may be explained on compre- 
hensible principles. 


176 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


A number of illustrations of the parallelism be- 
tween taxonomy, ontogeny, and phylogeny may now 
be given. 


1. PARALLELISM IN THE BRACHIOPODA. 


For the following abstract I am indebted to Mr. C. 
E. Beecher of New Haven, whose excellent work in 
this field is well known. 

The parallelism between the ontogeny and phy- 
logeny in the Brachiopoda has been worked out in 
numerous instances.! To illustrate these, some more or 
less familiar genera may be taken as characteristic ex- 
amples. 

Lingula has been shown by Hall and Clarke (Pai. 
New York, Vol. VIII., 1892) to have had its inception 
in the Ordovician. In the ontogeny of both recent and 
fossil forms, the first shelled stage has a straight hinge 
line, nearly equal in length to the width of the shell. 
This stage may be correlated with the more ancient 
genus Paterina from the lowest Cambrian. Subsequent 
growth produces a form resembling Obolella, a Cam- 
brian and Ordovician genus. Then the linguloid type 
of structure appears at an adolescent period, and is 
completed at maturity. Thus, Lingula has ontogenetic 
stages corresponding to (1) Paterina, (2) Obolella, and 
(3) Lingula, of which the first two occur as adult forms 
in geological formations older than any known Lin- 
gula. 

Paterina represents the radicle of the brachiopods. 

1C. E. Beecher, ‘‘ Development of the Brachiopoda,” Part I., Introduc- 
tion, Amer, Journ, Scz., Vol, XLI., April, 1891; ‘‘ Development of the Brachio- 
poda,” Part II., Classification of the Stages of Growth and Decline, Amer. 
Jour, Scz., Vol. XLIV., August, 1892; ‘‘ Development of Bilobites,’’ Aver. 


Jour, Sc7., Vol. XLIL., July, 1891; ‘‘ Revision of the Families of Loop-bearing 
Brachiopoda,”’ 7raus. Conn, Acad, Sci., Vol. 1X., May, 1893. 


PARALLELISM. 177 


It shows no separate stages of growth in the shell, is 
found in the oldest fossiliferous rocks, and corresponds 
to the embryonic shelled condition (protegulum) of 
other brachiopods. 

The genus Orbiculoidea of the Discinide first ap- 
pears in the Ordovician and continues through the 
Mesozoic. The early stages in the ontogeny of an in- 
dividual are as in Lingula, first a paterina stage, fol- 
lowed by an obolella stage. Then from the mechan- 
ical conditions of growth a Schizocrania-like stage 
follows, and completed growth results in Orbiculoidea. 

The elongate form of the shell in Lingula, as well 
as in many other genera, is determined by the length 
of the pedicle and freedom of motion. The discinoid 
or discoid of Orbiculoidea and Discinisca among the 
brachiopods, and Anomia among pelecypods, is deter- 
mined by the horizontal position of the valves, which 
are attached to an object of support by a more or less 
flexible, very short organ, a pedicle or byssus, without 
calcareous cementation. This mode of growth is char- 
acteristic of all the discinoid genera, but, as already 
shown, the early stages of Paleozoic Orbiculoidea have 
straight hinge lines and marginal beaks, and in the 
adult stages of the shell the beaks are usually subcen- 
tral and the growth holoperipheral. This adult disci- 
noid form, which originated and was acquired through 
the conditions of fixation of the animal, has been ac- 
celerated in the recent Discinisca, so that it appears in 
a free-swimming larval stage. Thus, a character ac- 
quired in adolescent and adult stages of Paleozoic spe- 
cies through the mechanical conditions of growth, ap- 
pears by acceleration in larval stages of later forms 
before the assumption of the condition of fixation which 
first produced this character. 


178 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


The two chief subfamilies of the Terebratellide 
undergo complicated series of metamorphoses in their 
brachial structure. Generic characters are based upon 
the form and disposition of the brachia and their sup- 
ports. The highest genera in one subfamily, which is 
austral in distribution, pass through stages correlated 
with the adult structure in the genera Gwynia, Cistella, 
Bouchardia, Megerlina, Magas, Magasell, and Terebra- 
tella, and reach their final development in Magellania 
and Neothyris. The higher genera in another subfam- 
ily, boreal in distribution, pass through metamorphoses 
correlated with the adult structures of Gwynia, Cistella, 
Platidia, Ismenia, Miihlfeldtia, Terebratalia, and Dal- 
lina. The first two stages in both subfamilies are re- 
lated in the same manner to Gwynia and Cistella. The 
subsequent stages are different except the last two, so 
that the Magellania structure is similar in all respects 
to the Dallina structure, and Terebratella is like Tere- 
bratalia. Therefore Magellania and Terebratella are 
respectively the exact morphological equivalent to, or 
are in exact parallelism with Dallina and Terebratalia. 

The stages of growth of the genera belonging to 
the two subfamilies Dallinine and Magellaniine are 
further correlated in the accompanying tables. 

The simplest genus Gwynia, as far as known, passes 
through no brachial metamorphoses, and has the same 
structure throughout the adolescent period, up to and 
including the mature condition. In the ontogeny of 
Cistella the gwyniform stage, through acceleration, has 
become a larval condition. In Platidia, the cistelliform 
structure is accelerated to the immature period, and 
in Ismenia (representing an ismeniform type of struc- 
ture in the higher genera), the gwyniform and cistelli- 
form stages are larval, and the platidiform represents 


MORPHOGENY FROM GWYNIA TO DALLINA. 


PERIODS STAGES STAGES STAGES STAGES STAGES STAGES STAGES 
Larval gwyniform? gwyniform gwyniform gwyniform gwyniform gwyniform gwyniform 
. cistelliform cistelliform cistelliform cistelliform 
Adolescent gwyuiform cistelliform cistelliform platidiform platidiform platidiform platidiform 
ismeniform ismeniform ismeniform 
miuhlfeldtiform miihlfeldtiform 
terebrataliform 
Mature Guwynia Cistella Platidia Ismenia Mihlfeldtia Terebratalia Dallina 
MORPHOGENY FROM GWYNIA TO MAGELLANIA. 
PERIODS STAGES STAGES STAGES STAGES STAGES STAGES STAGES STAGES 
Larval gwyniform|gwyniform |gwyniform | gwyniform gwyniform gwyniform gwyniform gwyniform 
cistelliform cistelliform cistelliform cistelliform cistelliform 
Adolescent | gwyniform | cistelliform |cistelliform | bouchardiform] bouchardiform] bouchardiform] bouchardiform| bouchardiform 
megerliniform | megerliniform | megerliniform | megerliniform 
magadiform |magadiform {| magadiform 
magaselliform | magaselliform 
terebratelliform 
Mature Guwyntia Cistella Bouchardia | Megerlina Magas Magasella Terebratella | Magellania 


180 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


an adolescent condition. Similar comparisons may be 
made in the other genera. Progressively through each 
series, the adult structure of any genus forms the last 
immature stage of the next higher, until the highest 
member in its ontogeny represents serially, in its stages 
of growth, all the adult structures, with the larval and 
immature stages of the simpler genera. It is evident 
that in the identification of specimens belonging to 
the Terebratellida, whether recent or fossil, the strict 
specific characters must be given first consideration. 
Species, therefore, must be based upon surface orna- 
ments, form, and color, within certain limits, and gen- 
era only upon structural features developed througha 
definite series of changes, the results of which are per- 
manent in individuals evidently fully adult. 

In each line of progression in the Terebratellide, 
the acceleration of the period of reproduction, by the 
influence of environment, threw off genera which did 
not go through the complete series of metamorphoses, 
but are otherwise fully adult, and even may show re- 
versional tendencies due to old age; so that nearly 
every stage passed through by the higher genera has 
a fixed representative in a lower genus. Moreover, 
the lower genera are not merely equivalent to, or in 
exact parallelism with the early stages of the higher, 
but they express a permanent type of structure, as far 
as these genera are concerned, and after reaching ma- 
turity do not show a tendency to attain higher phases 
of development, but thicken the shell and cardinal pro- 
cess, absorb the deltidial plates, and exhibit all the 
evidences of senility. 


(‘1ayoo0gq worg) ‘erueljeseW jo AuoZoysyd pue £ue8000 ‘ epodomprig ur wsr[aTereq—"gh “Sty 


i) 


Vamarecane 


Bouckar do, Re 
iy" 


tS, 
PN. @ 


Megerlina 
Cistella neopolitora 


Nigflevestens 


waokwoypboyy washyyeyoagaray, warhypsoboy wah yoboy, waohrurpaba yl wo rp soyonog warohrypysrg 


182 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


2z. PARALLELISM IN THE CEPHALOPODA. 


Among Mollusca it is well known that the Cepha- 
lopoda form a number of series of remarkable regular- 
ity, the advance being, in the first place, in the com- 
plication of the folds of the external margins of the 
septa, and, in the second place, in the degree of invo- 
lution of one or both extremities of the shell to the 
spiral ; third, in the position of the siphon. 

Alpheus Hyatt, in an important essay on this sub- 
ject, points out that the less complex forms are in 
many cases identical with the undeveloped conditions 
of the more complex. He says: ‘‘ There is a direct 
connection between the position of a shell, in the com- 
pleted cycle of the life of this order, and its own de- 
velopment. Those shells occupying the extremes of 
the cycle” (in time), ‘‘the polar forms, being more 
embryonic than the intermediate forms. The first 
epoch of the order is especially the era of rounded, 
and, in the majority of the species, of unornamented 
shells with simple septa; the second is the era of or- 
namentation, and the septa are steadily complicating ; 
in the third the complication of the septa, the orna- 
mentation, and the number of species, about twice 
that of any other epoch, all combine to make it the 
zenith of development in the order ; the fourth is dis- 
tinguishable from all the preceding as the era of re- 
trogression in the form, and partially in the septa. 

‘‘The four periods of the individual are similarly 
arranged, and have comparable characteristics. As 

\Memoirs of the Boston Society for Natural History, 1866, p. 193. Hyatt 


was followed by Wirtenberger in Ausland, 1873, who entirely confirmed his 
conclusions, 


PARALLELISM. 183 


has been previously stated, the first is rounded and 
smooth, with simple septa; the second tuberculated, 
and the septa more complicated; the third was the 
only one in which the septa, form, and ornamentation 
simultaneously attained the climax of individual com- 
plication; the fourth, when amounting to anything 
more important than the loss of a few ornaments, was 
marked by a retrogression of the whorl to a more tabu- 
lar aspect, and by the partial degradation of the septa.” 
I am indebted to Professor Hyatt for the following 
more detailed account of the results of his researches 
in this interesting field. The evidence as to the na- 
ture of evolution derived from the Cephalopoda is more 
complete than that obtained from any other source. 

- ‘Every group of nautiloids passes through, during 
its evolution in time, either a part or the whole of a 
certain series of changes. These modifications con- 
sist: first, of a straight or nearly straight cone, ortho- 
ceran; second, a curved cone, cyrtoceran; third, a 
coiled cone, gyroceran, which does not come in con- 
tact at any point; fourth, a coiled-cone, nautilian, which 
does come in contact at the termination of the first vo- 
lution and then during further growth remains in about 
the same condition, all of the internal whorls being 
visible as ina flat coil of rope; fifth, a coiled cone, 
involute-nautilian, which ‘also comes in contact like 
the fourth but then the whorl growing with greater 
rapidity spreads internally, covering up more or less 
of the internal volutions sometimes to such an extent 
that even the centre is concealed from view. The ex- 
amples which I have myself seen of the fifth kind range 
from the Silurian to the Nautili of the existing fauna, 
some being present in every period, and of other kinds, 
the first, second, and third kinds die out gradually, 


184 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


diminishing in the Devonian and Carboniferous and 
ultimately ceasing their existence altogether in the 
Trias. The fourth ceases in the Cretaceous, and the 
fifth alone survives in the Tertiaries and is still living 
in the Mautilus umbilicatus and pompilus, and two other 
species. 

‘«Wherever found, the young of shells of the fifth 
kind are at first orthoceran or cyrtoceran like the first 
and second kind, then gyroceran in curvature like the 
third class, and then they become more or less rapidly 
nautilian like the fourth class in succeeding stages. In 
Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous forms this suc- 
cession is so marked that about all of the young shells 
of the fifth class may be described as palingenetic, 
that is as cyrtoceran, gyroceran, nautilian, and then 
involute-nautilian in their individual or ontogenetic 
development. In the Trias, Jura, Cretaceous, Ter- 
tiary, and present, as the fifth class increases in num- 
bers, there is a decided tendency to shorten and su- 
persede the gyroceran or third stage and introduce the 
fourth kind or the tendency to spread by growth in- 
wards, at earlier stages. 

‘‘The characteristics of. the sutures are correlative 
with these stages of development, and it may be said 
in a general way, that all other characteristics corre- 
late more or less when studied comparatively in dif- 
ferent series with the differences in the curvature and 
coiling of the whorls. - The curvature and amount of 
involution is therefore the most important single char- 
acteristic of the nautiloids,so far as the comparative 
study of change by evolution is concerned; whether 
the whole order be considered statistically as above, 
1. e. with reference to the existence or non-existence 
of certain forms orthoceran, cyrtoceran, etc., or gen- 


PARALLELISM. 185 


etically, i. e. with sole regard to the evolution of dis- 
tinct series which may be traced from their origin to 
their termination in time. 

‘‘Of these last there are some in every period trace- 
able with more or less completeness by gradations of 
adults back to orthoceran or cyrtoceran ancestors. Of 
these series of adults, some pass through only the or- 
thoceran and cyrtoceran modifications, others have 
the orthoceran, cyrtoceran, gyroceran, and nautilian, 
but those having the latter and the nautilian-involute 
are of extreme rarity until the Carboniferous is reached. 
After this the nautilian shells begin to predominate in 
every series, ultimately becoming the sole representa- 
tives of genetic series. 

‘«Such series are, of course, frequently so closely 
parallel that it is possible to follow them, and show 
they are distinct only by means of certain genetic char- 
acters, the apertures, the structure of the siphuncle, 
the sutures and septa, and sometimes, although very 
rarely, all of these internal characters may show dif- 
ferences peculiar to some one genetic series in which 
the regular gamut of forms is passed through in the 
usual succession. Neglect of the comparative study 
of the stages of development and decline, and of the 
obvious parallelisms between these and adults of an- 
cestral forms, have caused naturalists, notably Bar- 
rande, to make artificial classifications in which about 
all straight forms, with the exception of some in which 
the siphuncles were notably distinct to be classed as 
Orthoceras, most of second kind as Cyrtoceras, most 
of the third kind as Gyroceras, most of the fourth and 
fifth kinds as Nautilus. ; 

‘“*To such authors the involute-nautilian forms of 
the Silurian and the existing fauna were considered to 


186 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


be only specifically distinct, although any prolonged 
study and comparison of the young would have shown 
that they were widely separated in development and 
really only morphic equivalents evolved from entirely 
distinct ancestors. 

“A good example of this is the Eudoceratide? in- 
cluding the Silurian and Devonian Eudoceras and Trip- 
teroceras, and probably gyroceran form Edaphoceras 
of the Carboniferous and the close-coiled nautilian 
shells of Endolobus of the Carboniferous. The pe- 
culiar forms of this series and their remarkable sutures 
enable the observer to follow the line both in the grada- 
tions of the adults and by means of the parallelisms 
of the development. 

‘‘Another good series easily distinguished by the re- 
markable sculpture of the shells is Zittelloceras of the 
Silurian with cyrtoceran forms, and the gyroceran and 
nautilian Halloceras of the Devonian. 

“One of the best is Thoraceras, a rough spinous 
cone of the Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous, 
which has straight and cyrtoceran shells; the gyroceran 
Triboloceras of the Carboniferous, and the nautilian 
shells of Vestinautilus and its allies in the same period. 

«There is no possible explanation of the parallel- 
isms of development of these nautilian shells and the 
adult stages of others except heredity in the same gen- 
etic series. It is useless to waste time in discussion 
unless the facts are specifically denied after having 
been properly reéxamined. 

‘When the ammonoids are taken up, it is easy to 
demonstrate? by the study of the young of the Gonia- 


1‘ Genera of Fossil Cephalopods,’’ Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat, Hist,, p. 287. 
2 See ‘‘ Genera of Fossil Cephalopods,”’ Proc. Bost, Soc. Nat. Hist., XXII, 
1883, p. 303. 


PARALLELISM. 187 


titinee that they had straight forms among their ances- 
tors and that these forms have a central siphuncle and 
suture as among nautiloids. The Devonian Goniati- 
tine and some of the Carboniferous forms had also 
gyroceran forms and loosely coiled nautilian forms, in- 
dicating an ancestry with similar cones, but at these 
stages the siphuncle is invariably ventral as in the 
adults. The young of all of the Ammonitinz, however 
involute the shell may afterwards become, have an in- 
variably straight or curved cyrtoceran cone in the 
apical part, and when they come in contact by growth, 
the first whorl or whorls are equally invariably open 
coils like the coils of the fourth grade in nautiloids. 
The fifth kind of shell, the involute-nautilian, follows 
in precisely similar succession to what it does in the 
ontogeny of nautiloids. Farther than this the degree 
of involution increases according to the species, with 
age, and the amount of this involution is often an im- 
portant part of the specific diagnosis. 

“Among Ammonitine one finds at once that there 
are no orthoceran or cyrtoceran shells except among 
the large group designated by the author as Bactrites. 
This genus begins early in the Silurian with shells that 
are not distinguishable from true Orthoceras except 
by having the siphuncle in adults and later stages 
close to the venter. Some of these forms have no 
bulb or protoconch and have a large scar on the apex 
as in true Orthoceras, others have a calcareous bulb 
or protoconch on the apex as in true Ammonitine. 
There are also open or gyroceran shells in the adults 
of the genus Mimoceras which are repeated in the 
young of Anarcestes and other genera of Goniatitine 
figured in my ‘Embryology of Fossil Cephalopods.’} 


1Bull, Mus. Comp. Zodl., UI. 


188 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


The shells of the Ammonitine, however, are of the 
fourth and fifth kinds almost exclusively, and in xol- 
lowing out the separate genetic series one has to dis- 
tinguish the progressive gradations by means of the 
greater or less amount of involution even in the Go- 
niatitine of the Devonian and Carboniferous. 

«« There are also some very remarkable facts show- 
ing that the coiling is closer in the Mesozoic than in the 
Paleozoic forms as a matter of hereditary derivation. 
The young of the Silurian and Devonian forms have 
the open, slowly coiling whorls figured by Sandberger 
and Barrande and repeated by myself as referred to 
above, but the young of all Mesozoic forms are close 
coiled so far as known. This is shown in the centre 
of the umbilicus by the perforation or central opening 
which is extremely large in most of the Paleozoic Go- 
nititinea but becomes almost obliterated in the true 
Ammonitine of the Jura. 

‘In tracing parallels between development of the 
individual and the series among Ammonitine it has 
been found by Branco and the author, that in orna- 
mented shells the young are first like a nautilus in the 
sutures, then have a goniatitic stage like the first rep- 
resentatives of the order of ammonoids in the Paleo- 
zoic, and that during these stages it is invariably 
smooth and similar in general form to these same an- 
cestors. After this nepionic stage is passed through 
the sutures and the characteristics alter with greater 
or less rapidity, but the stages show decisive parallel- 
isms with the immediate ancestors of the same genetic 
series. Some of the best examples of palingenetic de- 
velopment of this kind, where the later stages of growth 
present parallels with proximate ancestors, are cited in 


PARALLELISM. 189 


my ‘Genesis of the Ariétidaz’! and others have been 
given by Buckman and Wiirtenburger. 

««Some of the most remarkable occur in the least 
expected quarters. As usual, when one has a true law, 
it leads him into conclusions that are, perhaps, more 
surprising to himself than to his readers, or to any 
subsequent investigator. This was certainly my own 
case in being led to recognise the perfect examples of 
parallelisms in retrogressive series. Quenstedt and 
all students since his time agree that the so-called 
genera Crioceras, Hamites, Ancyloceras, Baculites, 
forms that are successively more and more uncoiled 
until in Baculites they are absolutely straight cones, 
were derived from normal, close-coiled, involute-nau- 
tilian shells of the Ammonitine. Their young have 
been repeatedly shown to be close-coiled and they 
grade into the normal progressive shells by all of their 
adult characters. 

«The ultimate fact in this demonstration has been 
added by Dr. Amos Brown in the discovery of a close 
coiled nepionic stage in the straight Baculites of the 
Cretaceous, the only form whose development had not 
been ascertained and whose exact ‘relations had not 
been determined. 

“It is now admitted by all students of Ammonitinz 
that these retrogressive groups are not true genera; 
but that as first demonstrated by Quenstedt, Baculites, 
Crioceras, etc., are retrogressive stages in the evolu- 
tion of distinct genetic series and that they do not ex- 
ist as natural groups of species. In other words, dif- 
ferent genetic series of the Ammonitine die out by 
passing through a series of modifications which are 
parallel and which are just the reverse of the parallel 


1 Smithson, Contrib., 673, p. 41 et seq. 


190 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


series of the orthoceran, cyrtoceran, gyroceran shells 
with which each distinct complete genetic series of 
nautiloids arose in time. 

‘‘While the nautiloids coil up in their progressive 
evolution and the Ammonitine increase this coiling up 
tendency in the primitive and progressive forms of 
each genetic series, the latter in becoming retrogres- 
sive reverse the processes of progressive evolution. 
They become more and more uncoiled, each complete 
retrogressive series ending with a straight cone. All 
other characters correlate with this uncoiling and in a 
general way may be said to degenerate in greater or 
less proportion to the amount of the uncoiling. To 
make this extraordinary picture complete it is only 
necessary to add that these retrogressive series followed 
out to their ultimate development are distinctly parallel 
with changes or stages of modification taking place in 
the senile stages of individuals of the same genetic 
group. 

. In old age the highly ornamented shell gradually 
parts with its spines and other ornaments, the whorls 
slowly diminish, the involution decreases and even- 
tually in extreme age it becomes separated from the 
spiral and completely rounded and smooth. The aper- 
ture becomes correlatively modified, and also the su- 
tures. If an old ammonite could have its life pro- 
longed, it would become Baculites, and the full-grown 
part of the shell would, in some forms of Lytoceratinz 
be very similar to the minute nepionic shell of the Ba- 
culites as described and figured by Dr. Brown. If now 
the coiled adult part of this imaginary shell were broken 
off and lost, the straight senile fragment would be re- 
ferred to the old genus Baculites. The morphic char- 
acters of the gerontic or old-age stage of ontogeny are 


PARALLELISM. 1gI 


therefore parallel with the forms evolved in the para- 
plastic or retrogressive stage of evolution of the phy- 
lum. -In other words, the morphic modifications which 
may occur as permanent, specific, and generic charac- 
ters in the adults of retrogressive descendants of any 
progressive individuals may be predicted from the 
study of the similar changes that take place in the 
senile stages of the progressive individuals. As it has 
been stated by the writer on several occasions, the 
embryonic, nepionic, and later stages of development 
up to the adult repeat with greater or less clearness in 
proportion to their removal in time and organization 
from the point of the origin of the genetic group to 
which they belong the permanent characteristic of 
their ancestors; the adult gives the existing essential 
differentials acquired by its own species, genus, and 
group, being the index according to the time of its oc- 
currence of the progression or retrogression of its 
group; the old, in its invariably retrogressive course, 
indicates the path that must be followed by degraded 
series after the acme of the group to which the indi- 
vidual belongs has been reached. This, of course, is 
a generalized statement of the correlations of the on- 
togenic cycle and the phylocycle when they occur as 
in the Ammonitine, but it will be found eventually 
that this law is true of all animals to some degree. It 
is obvious from all past experience that every law of 
correlation of structures cannot be true in any one 
group without being found more or less in all organ- 
isms. I have therefore ventured upon the basis of 
this and Beecher’s, Clarke’s, and Schuchert’s re- 
searches among Brachiopoda, corals, and trilobites, 
Dr. Jackson’s among pelecypods, and after the con- 
firmations by the independent researches of Wiirten- 


192 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


burger and Buckman among Ammonitine, and those 
of Bather among crinoids, to designate the complete 
study of the correlations of the ontecycle and phylo- 
cycle as Bioplastology. Bioplastology is easily sepa- 
rable from the study of growth, and from that of hered- 
ity, for which last I have proposed the term Genesi- 
ology, and from that of Ctetology or the study of the 
origin of acquired characteristics. By properly defin- 
ing these different branches of research it is practicable 
to see that bioplastology includes the results of the ac- 
tion of growth, the laws of growth, as well as those of 
genesiology and ctetology, but has a field entirely dis- 
tinct from all of these in so far as it deals essentially 
with the study of parallelism in all its phases.” 

The parallelism of the gyroceras with an early stage 
of all coiled Cephalopoda is represented in Fig. 119 
page 410, as illustrative of the inheritance of an ac- 
quired character. 


3. PARALLELISM IN THE VERTEBRATA. 


Parallels between the ontogeny and phylogeny are 
well known in the Vertebrata. The primary relations 
of the Vertebrata are discernible in the successive 
types of structure of the nervous system, and of the 
skeleton, but most clearly in those presented by the 
circulatory system. It is well known that the central 
organ—the heart, is, in the amphioxus, a straight 
tube. In the next higher group, the Marsipobranchii 
(lampreys), it is a bent tube, with a constriction which 
divides it into two chambers. In the Pisces (fishes) 
the heart is composed of two chambers related to each 
other in a reversed longitudinal direction. In the Ba- 


1 See Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, 1893, p. 59. 


PARALLELISM. 193 


trachia and Reptilia the cephalad (auricular) division 
is divided into two chambers by a septum; while in 
the birds and Mammalia the caudad division (ventricle) 
is also so divided, making four chambers in all. 

‘The sources of the great vessels which distribute 
the blood to the body and return it to the heart, dis- 
play the same successional relation of types. In 
the Acrania (amphioxus), the Marsipobranchii, and 
most of the fishes, the vessel (truncus communis) 
which receives the blood from the central organ, gives 
off several branches on each side, which are distributed 
to skeletal bars or arches which are in immediate con- 
tact with water, which aerates the blood. They then 
return, and, first sending the carotids anteriorly, unite 
dorsad to the heart, and form the aorta posteriorly. In 
the Batrachia, where aerial respiration succeeds to an 
aquatic one during the life of the animal, the number * 
of the vessels contributing to form the aorta is re- 
duced from five to three in the sucessive types. One 
of the arches is aborted as an arch, and sends the cir- 
culating fluid to the modified swim-bladder of the fish, 
or lung, where it is aerated. This aerated blood is 
returned to the heart with non-aerated blood from 
other organs, and the mixture is sent throughout the 
body. In the reptiles we have essentially the same 
system, but the aorta-origins are reduced to two, and 
one, on each side. Next a division of the truncus com- 
munis ensues, which corresponds functionally with 
that in the ventricle, so that the impure blood from 
one auricle is sent into the ventricle (right) which com- 
municates with the lung; and the aerated blood is 
then returned to the other auricle, which pours its 
contents into the left auricle, which drives it into the 
aorta, and thus throughout the body. Thus pure or 


Fig. 49.—Circulatory systems; 1-2, fish; 3-4, batrachian; 5, reptile; 6, bird; all 
from Gegenbaur. Figs, 7-8, human foetus, from His, 


PARALLELISM. 195 


aerated blood is distributed to the organs, and all but 
one of the old roots of the aorta have ceased to function 
as such. 

This evolutionary succession is preserved with much 
fidelity in the ontogeny of the respective classes of 
Vertebrata. The representatives of each class pass 
through the stages which are permanent in the classes 
below them in the series. The Mammalia, as the 
highest class, pass through all the stages. (Fig. 49.) 
This series coincides also with phylogenetic succes- 
sion. The order of appearance in time of the Verte- 
brata is, first Agnatha, then Pisces, Batrachia, Rep- 
tilia, and Mammalia. 

In all the details of structure the same relation 
may be observed. Referring to the illustrations of 
phylogeny and variation of character described in the 
preceding pages, many of the characters definitive of 
natural divisions have been observed to appear in the 
course of the embryonic life of those types which pos- 
sess them. Those of greater systematic significance 
appear earlier, and those of less importance in a tax- 
onomic sense, later. I select some illustrations of this 
principle. 

I have shown that the primitive type of superior 
molar in the placental Mammalia is tritubercular, the 
fourth tubercle being added internally and posteriorly 
in the later forms. Dr. Taeker has recently observed 
that in the development of the superior molars in the 
horse, at an early stage the crown is tritubercular, and 
that the fourth cusp or hypocone is subsequently added, 
as in the phylogenetic history. As the horse presents 
the most complex molar among Mammalia, this sur- 
vival of the record is interesting. 

In the Artiodactyla and Edentata which lack su- 


196 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


perior incisor teeth, rudiments of them can be found 
in the early stages. We now know early extinct forms 
of both of these types where these teeth are permanent 
throughout life. In the toothless whalebone whales 
the same phenomenon has been observed. 

It is well known that the highest deer (Cervide) 
add an antler to the simple spike horn in the third 
year, and an additional antler with each successive 
year for several years. Also they develop a basal snag 
of the antler (see Cuvier, Ossem. Fossiles; Gray, Catal. 
Brit. Mus.) at the third year. Nowa majority of those 
of the New World (genera Cariacus, Coassus) never 
develop it except in ‘‘abnormal”’ cases in the most 
vigorous maturity of the most northern Cariacus (C. 
virginianus); while the South American Coassus retains 
to adult age the simple horn of the second year of 
Cervus. 

Among the higher Cervide, Rusa and Axis never 
assume characters beyond an equivalent of the fourth 
year of Cervus. In Dama the characters are on the 
other hand assumed more rapidly than in Cervus, its 
third year corresponding to the fourth of the latter, 
and the development in after years of a broad plate of 
bone, with points, being substituted for the addition 
ot the corresponding snags, thus commencing another 
series. 

Returning to the American deer, we have Blasto- 
cerus, whose antlers are identical with those of the 
fourth year of Cariacus. 

The oldest known deer (Palzomeryx) have no 
horns, or they are undivided. 

Among Batrachia excellent illustrations are fur- 
nished by the two series of Salientia, the Arcifera and 
the Firmisternia. 


PARALLELISM. 197 


The firmisternial structure is a modification of the 
arciferous, which comes later in the history of growth, 
and probably also in geological time. During the 
early stages the Firmisternia have the movable shoul- 


Fig. 50.—Succession of horns of Cervus elaphus L. from Gaudry. a, second year 


represented by permanent horn of Coassus; 4, third year represented by permanent 
horn of Furcifer; c, fourth year represented by permanent horn of Rusa; 4, fifth year; 


é, sixth year, 


der girdle which characterizes those of the arciferous 
division, the consolidation constituting a modification 
superadded in attaining maturity, Furthermore, young 
Salientia are toothless, and one section of the species 
of Arcifera never acquire teeth. In these (the Bu- 


198 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


fonide) we have a group which is imperfect in two 
points instead of one. 

The genera of these salientian suborders exhibited 
on a preceding page as forming indentical series in five 
different families (pp. 66-67) are related to each other 
as developmental stages in the history of the genera 
that attain the extreme development on each line. 
For example we select the family Hylidz of which 
the terminal genus is Trachycephalus. Nearly allied 


Fig. 51.—Shoulder girdles of Anura; a, of the arciferous type (Phyllomedusa 
bicolor) ; b, Rana temporaria, tadpole with budding limbs; ¢, do., adult, firmis- 
ternial type; 4 and c from Parker, 


to it is the genus Osteocephalus, which differs in the 
normal exostosis of the cranium not involving the 
derm, as it does in the former. Close to this is Scy- 
topis, where the fully ossified cranium is not covered 
by an exostosis. Next below Scytopis is Hyla, where 
the upper surface of the cranium is not ossified at all, 
but is a membranous roof over a great fontanelle. Still 
more imperfect is Hylella, which differs from Hyla in 
the absence of vomerine teeth. Now, the genus Trachy- 
cephalus, after losing its tail and branchie, possesses 


PARALLELISM. 199 


all the characters possessed by the genera Hylella 
and Hyla, either at or just before the mature state of 
the latter, as the ethmoid bone is not always ossified 
in advance of the parietals. It soon, however, becomes 
a Scytopis, next an Osteocephalus, and finally a Tra- 
chycephalus. It belongs successively to these genera, 
for an exhaustive anatomical examination has failed 
to reveal any characters by which, during these stages, 
it could be distinguished from these genera. The same 
succession in development of the genera of the other 
families is well known, the genus Otaspis of the Bu- 
fonidez attaining a point beyond any of the others, in 
the enclosure of its membranum tympani posteriorly 
by dermoéssification. 

Finally reaching in our review the relations of spe- 
cific characters, the readers will call to mind that the 
species of the lacertilian genus Cnemidophorus (page 
41) are either striped, spotted, or cross-banded, and 
that the Lacerta muralis agrees with them in this re- 
spect. It was also shown that the young of all the 
species are striped, and that the cross-banded forms 
pass through not only a striped, but an intermediate 
spotted stage, before attaining the adult coloration. 

The young of spotted salamanders are without 
spots (genera Amblystoma and Salamandrae g.); so 
that unspotted species resemble the young of the 
spotted. In many species of birds of more or less uni- 
form patterns of coloration, the young are spotted. In 
some of these the females remain spotted throughout 
adult life. In some other species both sexes retain 
the spotted coloration of the young. The young of 
most deer are spotted. In the fallow-deer (Axis) the 
adults retain the spotted coloration, thus resembling 
the young of most of the species. 


200 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


3. INEXACT PARALLELISM OR C/ENOGENY. 


When the early or transitional stage of a higher 
form is exactly the same as a permanent lower form, 
the parallelism is said to be ‘‘exact.” Such is the re- 
lation of a Cnuemidophorus gularis scalaris to a Cnemido- 
phorus gularis gularis as to color characters ; and of an 
Amblystoma tigrinum to a permanent breeding Siredon 
lichenoides in characters of higher structural value. 

When the transitional stage of the higher only re- 
sembles the lower form in some one or more features, 
but not in all, the parallelism is said to be ‘‘inexact.” 
It is evident that ‘‘exact parallelism ” can only exist 
between ancestor and descendant in the same re- 
stricted line, and can be therefore only demonstrated 
in the case of the nearest relatives, between which a 
perfect phylogeny is known. So soon as new subordi- 
nate characters are assumed, or a change in the order 
of appearance of characters supervenes, the parallel- 
ism becomes ‘‘inexact,’’ and such is the kind of paral- 
lelism usually observed. And it is more inexact the 
more widely removed in relationship are the forms 
compared. ‘Thus the parallelism between the embryo 
man with five branchial slits, and the adult shark, is 
very inexact; but that between a true fish and a shark 
is much less inexact. That between a higher and a 
lower shark is still more exact, and so on. Exact par- 
allelism in growth is called by Haeckel palingenesis 
or palingeny. The growth which has, through changes 
introduced subsequent to the origin of a line of de- 
scent, become inexact, or ‘ falsified,” is termed by the 
same author cenogenesis or cznogeny. 


PARALLELISM. 201 


The superposition of characters which constitutes 
evolution, means that more numerous characters are 
possessed by the higher than the lower types. This 
involves a greater number of changes during the on- 
togenetic growth of each individual of the higher type. 
In other words, characters acquired during the phylo- 
genetic history are continually assumed by the pro- 
gressive form at earlier and earlier periods of life. 
This process has been metaphorically termed by Pro- 
fessor Alpheus Hyatt and myself ‘‘acceleration.” All 
progressive organic evolution is by acceleration, as 
here described. Retrogressive evolution may be ac- 
complished by a retardation in the rate of growth of 
the taxonomic characters, so that instead of adding, 
and accumulating them, those already possessed are 
gradually dropped; the adults repeating in a reversed 
order the progressive series, and approaching more 
and more the primitive embryonic stages. This pro- 
cess I have termed ‘‘retardation.”” Retardation is not 
however, always exact, even in retracing a true phylo- 
genetic line, whence in such instances the process may 
not be correctly described as retardation. Professor 
Hyatt has applied to such types the term ‘‘senile,” 
and gerontic ; and to the resulting condition, the term 
‘¢senility.” His observations on this subject have been 
made on Mollusca, and principally on the Cephalo- 
poda, and are of fundamental importance in this con- 
nection. 

The history of a type which has passed through a 
full cycle of life, from its earliest appearance to its ex- 
tinction, is divided by Haeckel into three stages, viz.: 
those of its rise; full vigor, as displayed by predomi- 
nance of variations and numbers; and decadence. 
For these stages he uses the expressions Anaplasis, 


202 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Metaplasis, and Cataplasis. For the processes which 
bring about the first and last of these conditions, Pro- 
fessor Hyatt has used the terms Anagenesis and Cata- 
genesis. Catagenesis is equivalent to degeneracy and 
has played an important part in organic evolution. I 
had used the term previously to Professor Hyatt for 
the same process, but with a wider application; ex- 
tending its use to inorganic nature as well.! (See 
Chapter IV. of this book.) 

Embryology has, however, revealed another series 
of phenomena which in many instances obscure the 
simplicity of the problem of ontogeny as presented in 
the preceding pages. It was the merit of Haeckel to 
generalize from the facts brought to light by this sci- 
ence, so as to present the relations which subsist be- 
tween the primitive stages of all multicellular animals. 
This is known as the Gastrewa theory. He showed 
that the primitive gastric cavity of all such animals is 
produced by an invagination of a portion of the sur- 
face of a primitive sphere or morula, which results 
from the segmentation of the odsperm. This hollow 
half-sphere he termed the gastrula, and the theoretical 
primitive animal which corresponds to it he called the 
Gastrea. Marine animals very similar to this Gas- 
trea have been discovered. Haeckel showed, how- 
ever, that gastrulas are not all alike, since they differ 
in the extent to which the segmentation of the odsperm 
may be carried, and the rate of segmentation of differ- 
ent parts of it. Thus early do inexact parallelisms 
arise. From this point onwards special peculiarities 
of the various developmental lines appear, some of 
which have especial reference to the necessities of em- 
bryonic life. Hence the trochosphere stage of so many 


lOrigin of the Fittest, p. 422. 


PARALLELISM. 203 


invertebrate forms, and the nauplius and zoza of the 
Crustacea. 

Such are the statoblasts which are resting-stages 
for the embryos of fresh-water sponges and Polyzoa, 
and the glochidia of the Unionide, which are wanting 
in the marine forms of the same orders. Such are the 
amnion and allantois of certain Vertebrata and the 
placenta of certain Mammalia, which have no refer- 
ence to any structures but their own residua, found in 
the adults of those animals. 

A remarkable instance of this state of things ap- 
pears in the history of the evolution of the insects. It 
is quite impossible to understand this history without 
believing that the larval and pupal states of the high- 
est insects are the results of a process of degeneracy 
which has affected the middle periods of growth, but 
not the mature results. The earliest insects are the 
Orthoptera, which have active aggressive larve and 
pup, undergoing the least changes in their meta- 
morphosis (Ametabola), and never getting beyond the 
primitive mandibulate condition at the end. The meta- 
morphosis of the jawed Neuroptera is little more 
marked, and they are one of the oldest orders. 

The highest orders with jaws undergo a marked 
metamorphosis (Coleoptera, Hymenoptera), the Hy- 
menoptera even requiring artificial intervention in 
some instances to make it successful. Finally, the 
most specialized orders, the suctorial Diptera and 
Lepidoptera, especially the latter, present us with very 
unprotected more or less parasitic larval stages, both 
active and inactive. These animals have evidently de- 
generated, but not so as to prevent their completing a 
metamorphosis necessary for purposes of reproduction. 
Asis well known, many imagines (Saturniidz, CEstridz) 


204 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


can perform no other function, and soon die, while in 
some Diptera the incomplete larve themselves repro- 
duce, so that the metamorphosis is never completed. 

This history is parallel to that proposed by Dohrn 
to account for the origin of the Ammoceetes larval 
stage of the Marsipobranchii. He supposes this form 
to be more degenerate than the corresponding stage of 
its probable ancestral type in the ancestral line of the 
Vertebrata. An inactive life in mud is supposed by 
Dohrn to have been the effective cause. An inactive 
life on the leaves of plants, or in dead carcases, has 
probably been the cause of the same phenomenon in 
the Lepidoptera and Diptera. 

Thus we have developed an ontogeny within an 
ontogeny, and a phylogeny within a phylogeny. These 
facts do not, however, affect the general result in the 
least. They only show us that the persistent larve 
of those animals which possess them, have a history of 
their own, subject to the same laws of evolution as 
the adults. It results that in many cases the phy- 
logeny can only be determined by the discovery and 
investigation of the ancestors themselves, as they are 
preserved in the crust of the earth. In all cases this 
discovery confirms and establishes such definite con- 
clusions as may be derived from embryology. It is 
also clear that on the discovery of phylogenetic series 
it becomes at once possible to determine the nature of 
defective types. It becomes possible to ascertain 
whether their rudimental parts represent the begin- 
nings of organs, or whether they are the result of a 
process of degeneration of organs once well devel- 
oped. 

An excellent illustration of inexact parallelism is 
to be found on comparison of man with the lower Ver- 


PARALLELISM. 205 


tebrata. I have pointed out! that in the structure of 
his extremities and dentition, he agrees with the type 
of Mammalia prevalent during the Eocene period 
(cfr. Phenacodus). Hence in these respects he re- 
sembles the immature stages of those mammals which 
have undergone special modifications of limbs and ex- 
tremities, such as Ungulata in which cenogeny has 
not obliterated the early stages from the embryonic 
record. These forms are probably extinct. I have 
also shown? that in the shape of his head man resem- 
bles the embryos of all Vertebrata, in the protuberant 
forehead, and vertical face and jaws. In this part of 
the structure most Vertebrata have grown farther from 
the embryonic type than has main, so that the human 
face may be truly said to be the result of a process of 
retardation. Nevertheless, in the structure of his ner- 
vous, circulatory, and for the most part, of his repro- 
ductive system, man stands at the summit of the Ver- 
tebrata. It is in those parts of his structure that are 
necessary to supremacy by force of body only, that 
man is retarded and embryonic. 


5. OBJECTIONS TO THE DOCTRINE OF PARAL- 
LELISM. 

An objection to the theory of parallelism in its full 
sense has been recently put forward by Mr. C. Her- 
bert Hurst. He says, ‘‘My object now is to show 
that in neither case can a record of the variation at 
any one stage of evolution be preserved in the ontog- 


eny, much less can the ontogeny come to be a series of 
1‘ The Relation of Man to the Tertiary Mammalia,’ Penn Monthly, 1875; 
Origin of the Fittest, 268. 


2 The Developmental Significance of Human Physiognomy,”’ American 
Naturalist, June, 1883; Origin of the Fittest, 1887, p. 281. 


3 Natural Science, 1893, p. 195- 


206 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


stages representing in proper chronological order some 
of the stages of adult structure which have been passed 
through in the course of evolution.” Again: ‘The 
early stages of the fish embryo are very like those of 
the bird embryo. These two do correspond to each 
other. The statement that the embryonic structure 
of a bird follows a course which is from beginning to 
end roughly parallel with, but somewhat divergent 
from, the course followed by a fish, is borne out by 
the actual facts. A bird does not develop into a fish 
and then into a reptile, and then into a bird. There is 
no fish-stage, no reptile-stage, in its ontogeny. The 
adult resembles an adult fish only very remotely. Every 
earlier stage resembles the corresponding earlier stage 
of the fish more closely. There is a parallelism be- 
tween the two ontogenies. There zs no parallelism be- 
tween the ontogeny and the phylogeny of either g bird or 
any other animal whatever. A seeming parallelism will 
fall through when closely examined.” <“ The promise 
that this theory gave of serving as the guide to knowl- 
edge of past history without the labor involved in pale- 
ontological research, was indeed tempting : and where 
the royal road to learning has been shown by it, itis not 
surprising that some zodélogists should have entered 
for the race along this road. To what goal that road 
has led may be learned by a comparison of the nu- 
merous theories as to the ancestry of the ‘Chordata’ 
which have been put forward by those who have 
adopted the theory without enquiring as to its valid- 
ity.” 

I have made this quotation as showing the point of 
view from which the doctrine of parallelism when in- 
correctly stated may be assailed. There is truth in 
the author’s accusation that embryologists who have 


PARALLELISM. 207 


not used their results with proper caution, have been 
frequently led to incorrect and even absurd results. 
The errors of this class of biologists are mainly due to 
their ignorance of species in the adult state, and their 
ignorance of systematic biology or taxonomy. They 
profess to regard this branch of the science as only 
suitable for beginners, and as comparatively unim- 
portant, as compared with their own; yet one might 
as well attempt the study of philology without a knowl- 
edge of alphabets, as to study phylogeny without the 
knowledge of natural taxonomy. The correct discrim- 
ination of species, genera, etc., imposes much greater 
burdens on the faculty of judgment, than does any- 
thing to be found in any science which includes obser- 
vation and record only. But Mr. Hurst’s statement is 
somewhat overdrawn, and he does not give embryolo- 
gists the credit which is due to their theory of recapitu- 
lation. I think he will find the following, which I wrote 
in 1872! to be a correct statement of the facts, and a 
fair induction as to principles. 

‘<The smaller the number of structural characters 
which separate two species when adult, the more 
nearly will the less complete of the series be identical 
with an incomplete stage of the higher species. As 
we compare species which are more and more differ- 
ent, the more necessarily must we confine the asser- 
tion of parallelism to single parts of the animals, and 
less to the whole animal. When we reach species as 
far removed as man and a shark, which are separated 
by the extent of the series of vertebrated animals, we 
can only say that the infant man is idéntical in its nu- 
merous origins of the arteries from the heart, and in 
the cartilaginous skeletal tissue, with the class of 


1 Penn Monthly, 1872, Origin of the Fittest, 1887, p. 8. 


208 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


sharks, and in but few other respects. But the im- 
portance of this consideration must be seen from the 
fact that it is on single characters of this kind that the 
divisions of the sodlogist depend. Hence we can say 
truly that one order is identical with an incomplete 
stage of another order, though the species of the one 
may never at the present time bear the same relation 
in their entirety to the species of the other. Still more 
frequently can we say that such a genus is the same in 
character as a stage passed by the next higher genus; 
but when we can say this of spécies, it is because their 
distinction is almost gone. It will then depend on the 
opinion of the naturalist as to whether the repressed 
characters are permanent or not. Parallelism is then 
reduced to this definition: that each separate charac- 
ter of every kind, which we find in a species, repre- 
sents a more or less complete stage of the fullest 
growth of which the character appears to be capable. 
In proportion as those characters in one species are 
contrasted with those of another by reason of their 
number, by so much must we confine our comparison 
to the characters alone, and the divisions they repre- 
sent; but when the contrast is reduced by reason of 
the fewness of differing characters, so much the more 
truly can we say that the one species is really a sup- 
pressed or incomplete form of the other The denial 
of this principle by the authorities cited has been in 
consequence of this relation having been assigned to 
orders and classes, when the statement should have 
been confined ¢o single characters, and divisions char- 
acterized by them. There seems, however, to have 
been a want of exercise of the classifying quality or 
power of ‘abstraction’ of the mind on the part of the 
objectors.” 


PARALLELISM. 209 


It is nevertheless true that the records brought to 
light by embryologists are very imperfect, and have to 
be carefully interpreted in order to furnish reliable evi- 
dence as to the phylogeny of the species examined. 
An illustration of this is the fact that the species char- 
acters appear in many embryos before those which de- 
fine the order or the family, although it is certain that 
the latter appeared first in the order of time. Most of 
the important conclusions as to the phylogeny of Ver- 
tebrata demonstrated by paleontology have never been 
observed by embryologists in the records of the spe- 
cies studied by them. Thus I have shown that it is 
certain that in the amniote vertebrates the intercen- 
trum of the vertebral column has been replaced by the 
centrum ; yet no evidence of this fact has been ob- 
served by an embryologist. If we could study the em- 
bryonic development of the vertebral column of the 
Permian and Triassic Reptilia, the transition would be 
observed, but in recent forms cenogeny has progressed 
so far that no trace of the stage where the intercentrum 
existed can be found. 

Again I have demonstrated by paleontological evi- 
dence that the lines of the ungulate Mammalia origi- 
nated from a buncdont pentadactyle plantigrade an- 
cestor ; but embryonic research has failed to discover 
the preservation of a record of this fact in the ungu- 
lates at present existing. The embryo of the horse is 
not pentadactyle, nor even tridactyle, although tri- 
dactyle horses persisted late in geologic time. Nor 
has embryonic research demonstrated a four-toed 
stage in the Bovide (oxen, etc.), although there is no 
doubt that they descended directly from an ancestor 
so characterized. Any number of similar cases might 
be cited to show the prevalence of inexact parallelism 


210 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


or cenogeny. If we could study the embryology of 
the many extinct forms of life, the missing stages 
would all be found, but as we have not the opportun- 
ity of pursuing this important research, we have to 
rely on paleontology for our phylogeny. Paleontology 
is and always will be imperfect, but all that we get is 
palingeny, or the phylogeny itself, and not an inverted 
and distorted record of it. 


CHAPTER IV.—CATAGENESIS. 


E HAVE been principally occupied so far with 
progressive evolution or anagenesis. Reference 
has, however, been made to retrogressive evolution or 
degeneracy, in Chapter III., in describing the evolution 
of the Vertebrata, and will be in Chapter V., under the 
caption ‘‘Disuse in Mammalia.” Degeneracy has, how- 
ever, played a more important part in creation than 
would be suspected from these references, and I pro- 
pose in the present chapter to go more fully into its 
phenomena, which, in the broadest sense, I have called 
collectively Catagenesis. 

As evidence for degeneracy as a factor in evolution 
we naturally appeal first to examples in the life histo- 
ries of plants and animals which are known to us; and 
then examine the records of the past, in the light thus 
gained, for evidence of degeneracy in vegetable and 
animal phylogeny. In both directions we are met by 
an embarras de richesse, and a few conspicuous cases 
will have to suffice. 

The parasitic copepod Crustacea undergo a retro- 
grade metamorphosis, which commences at different 
periods of the growth history of different genera. Says 
Claus: ‘Many parasitic Copepoda, however, pass 


212 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


over the series of nauplius forms [which are traversed 
by other copepods] and the larva, as soon as hatched, 
undergoes a moult, and appears at once in the youngest 
Cyclops form with 
antenne adapted 
for adhering, and 
mouth-parts for 
piercing. From this 
stage they under- 
go a retrogressive 
metamorphosis, in 
which they become 
attached to a host, 
lose more or less 
completely the seg- 
mentation of the 
body, which grows 
irregular in shape, 
cast off their swim- 
ming feet, and even 
lose the eye, which 
was originally pres- 
ent (Lerneapoda). 
The males, how- 
ever, in such cases 
often remain small 


Fig. 52.—Lernca branchialis ; a, male; 6, non- and dwarfed, and 
degenerate female; c, female after fertilization adhere, frequently 
undergoing metamorphosis; d, do. with egg sacs, 
natural size. From Claus. more than one, 

firmly to the body 
of the female in the region of the genital opening. In 
the Lern@a such pigmy males were for a long time 
vainly sought for upon the very peculiarly shaped body 


of the large female (Fig. 52), which carries egg-tubes. 


CATAGENESTS. 213 


At last it was discovered that the small Cyclops-like 
males lead an independent life and swim about freely 
by means of their four pairs of swimming feet, and 
that the females in their copulatory stage resemble the 
males, and that it is only after copulation that they 
(the females) become parasitic and undergo the con- 
siderable increase in size and modification of form 
which characterizes the female with egg-tubes.” 

A degeneracy of the females of a remarkable char- 
acter occurs in the insects of the order Strepsiptera. 
Here the female during the larval stage, bores its way 
into the body of a hymenopterous insect and soon un- 
dergoes a moult. At this time they shed their three 
pairs of well-developed legs, and become a parasitic 
maggot, which lives on the body of the host. The 
males do not undergo this degeneracy but retain the 
six legs and two pairs of wings common to the class 
Insecta. 

A notorious example of degeneracy among the Mol- 
lusca is offered by the Lntoconcha mirabilis. Says J. 
S. Kingsley: ‘‘So greatly has parasitism altered the 
form of the body, and all of the organs, that the proper 
position of this form among the gastropods is far from 
certain, some placing it near Natica. Indeed, were it 
not for the characters afforded by the young, its posi- 
tion among the Mollusca would not be suspected. 
Some thirty years ago [before 1885] Johannes Miiller 
found in some specimens of Syxapta digitata an inter- 
nal worm-like parasite, attached by one extremity to 
the alimentary canal, while the other end hung free 
in the perivisceral cavity.” ‘‘In one specimen of Syn- 
apta out of one or two hundred this strange form oc- 
curs. Itisasac, the upper part bearing the female, 
and the lower the male reproductive organs, while the 


214. PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


centre of the body serves for a while as a broodpouch, 
the embryos later passing out from an opening at the 


WY 


Fig. 53.—A Synapta digitata with para- 
sitic Entoconcha; B, a portion of Synapta, 
with Entoconcha (/) enlarged; a, point of 
attachment; 4, blood vessels; /, female por- 
tion; z, intestine; 7z, male portion; me, me- 
sentery. From Kingsley. 


free end of the body 
of the parent. The 
eggs undergo a toler- 
ably regular develop- 
ment, producing a 
velum, shell, and oper- 
culum, the later stages 
being found free in the 
body-cavity of the 
host.” 

The preceding ex- 
amples illustrate the 
degenerating or cata- 
genetic effect of a 
parasitic life. We will 
now observe the cor- 
responding effect of a 
sedentary life, which 
may be called earth- 
parasitism. Asan ex- 
ample of this I select 
the well-known case 
of the lowest of the 
Vertebrata, the Tuni- 
cata, , 

The embryo ascid- 
ian has the form of 
a tadpole-like larva 
which swims actively 


through the sea by vibrating its long tail. After a 
short free-swimming existence the fully developed, 
tailed larva fixes itself by its anterior adhering papille 


CATAGENESIS. 215 


to some foreign object, and then undergoes.a remark- 
able series of retrogressive changes, which convert it 
into the adult ascidian. The tail atrophies, until noth- 
ing is left but some fatty cells in the posterior part of 
the trunk. The adhering papille disappear and are 
replaced functionally by a growth of the test over neigh- 
boring objects. The nervous system with its sense- 
organs atrophies, until it is reduced to the single small 
ganglion placed on the dorsal edge of the pharynx, 
and a slight nerve-cord running for a short distance 
posteriorly. Slight changes in the shape of the body 
and a further growth and differentiation of the branchial 
sac, peribranchial cavity, and other organs now pro- 
duce gradually the structure found in the adult ascid- 
ian (Herdman). It is, however, to be noted that in 
the order Larvacea, this retrograde metamorphosis 
does not take place. It embraces the single family 
Appendiculariide, which includes Tunicata which pre- 
serve the tail, notochord, and other larval features, and 
lead a free-swimming existence in the ocean. 

On the Tunicata, Herdman makes the following 
general observations. ‘‘(1) In the ascidian embryo 
all the more important organs (e. g. notochord, neural 
canal, archenteron) are formed in essentially the same 
manner as they are in amphioxus and other Chordata. 
(2) The free-swimming tailed larva possesses the es- 
sential characters of the Chordata, inasmuch as it has 
a longitudinal skeletal axis (the notochord), separat- 
ing a dorsally placed nervous system (the neural canal) 
from a ventral alimentary canal (archenteron) ; and 
therefore during this period of its life history the ani- 
mal belongs to the Chordata. (2) The Chordata larva 
is more highly organized than the adult ascidian, and 
therefore the changes by which the latter is produced 


DIPLOGLOSSA LEPtTo 
Pygopodide | Zonuridz Anguide Teide Gerrhosauridz 
I. Limbs, two pair . 
a. Digits 5-4 Tejus 
6. Digits 4-5 Tretioscineus 
Micrablepharus 
Gymopthalmus 
c. Digits 4-4 Sauresia Scolecosaurus | Saurophis 
ad. Digits 4-3 
e. Digits 3-4 
SJ. Digits 3-3 Microdactylus 
&. Digits 3-2 Herpetochalcis 
h. Digits 2-4 
z. Digits 2-3 
yj. Digits 2 2 
k, One or both Chamesaura| Panolopus_ | Cophias Cetia 
monodactyle Ophiognomon 
II. Fore limbs only Propus (digits 0) 
Ill. Hind limbs only | Pygopus Mancus Pseudopus 
Cryptodelma Opheodes 
Delma Hyalosaurus 
Pletholax 
Aprasia 
Lialis 
IV. No limbs Opheosaurus' 
Dopasia 
Anguis 


GLOSSA 


ANNIEL- 
LOIDEA 


ANNULATI 


Scincidze 


Acontiide 


Dibamidz 


Anelytropsidz 


Anniellidz 


Hagria 


Heteropus 
Ristella 
Menetia 


Gongyloseps 
Chiamela 
Rhinoseineus 
Tetradactylus 
Miculia 
Chalcidoseps 
Blepharactisis 
Sphenops 


Zygnopsis 


Allodactylus 


Tridentulus 
Chalcides 
Hemiergis 
Siaphus 
Phaneropis 
Sepomorphus 
Sphenoscineus 
Sepsina 


Nessia 


Hemipodium 


Anisoterma 


Lerista 
Eumecia 
Heteromeles 


Dimeropus 
Chelomeles 


Brachystopus 
Oncopus 
Brachymeles 
Anomalopus 
Coloscincus 
Furcillus 
Dicloniscus 


Evesia 


Euchirotivz (di- 
gits 3-5) 


Ollochirus 
Dumerlia 
Scelotes 
Soridia 
Podoclonium 


Dibamus 


Opheoscincus 
Herpetosaura 
Sepophis 
Herpetoseps 
Opheomorus 


Acontias 
Typhlacontias 


Anelytropsis 
Feylinia 
Typhlosaurus 


Anniella 


Amphisbana 
Rhineura 
Lepidosternum 
Trogonophide 


218 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


from the former may be regarded as a process of de- 
generation. The important conclusion drawn from all 
this is, that the Tunicata are the degenerate descend- 
ants of a group of the primitive Chordata” (= Verte- 
brata). 

The degeneracy of the Tunicata follows imme- 
diately their assumption of the sessile condition. Some 
of the degenerate forms which are not sessile, are sup- 
posed to be the free descendants of sessile forms. 

Among -the craniate Vertebrata, most conspicuous 
examples of degeneracy are to be seen in the reduction 
and loss of limbs in certain Batrachia and in many 
Reptilia. In both classes successive loss of phalanges 
and digits form series in several groups of salamanders 
and lizards, and in both these orders there are forms 
with the limbs rudimental or altogether wanting. In 
Batrachia, the genus Amphiuma displays rudimental 
limbs with minute digits numbering two or three on 
each limb. In the Ceciliide, the limbs are wanting. 
Both types are subterranean in their habits. I give the 
annexed table of the Lacertilia with degenerate limbs, 
which it will be observed are found in eleven distinct 
families. (Pp. 216-217.) 

Finally, in the snakes (Ophidia) the limbs have 
totally disappeared, rudiments only remaining in the 
boas and pythons and their allies. 

Paleontology renders it clear that this reduction is 
a case of degeneracy, since both the Ophidia and La- 
certilia can be traced to Reptilia of the Permian epoch, 
which have well-developed limbs. This degeneracy is 
allied to subterranean or terrestrial habits. It is prob- 
able that the primitive snakes sought concealment in 
cavities of the earth and beneath rocks and logs, and 
spent much of their time in narrow quarters, where 


CATAGENESTS. 219 


limbs would be of no use to them. Some of them, the 
Angiostomata, are now subterranean in their habits, 
and most of them are blind, or nearly so. These forms 
present rudiments of limbs, which leads to the supposi- 
tion that they are near to the ancestral types. From 
such forms they developed a type which has proved 
competent to compete successfully with other verte- 
brates on the ground, in the water, and in the trees of 
the forest. 

From what has gone before it is now clear that 
while kinetogenesis is a factor in progressive evolu- 
tion, the reverse process, or akinetogenesis, is as defi- 
nite a factor in degeneracy. The evidence derived 
from parasitism and sedentary modes of life is conclu- 
sive in this direction. 

I now cite another example of catagenesis which 
throws much light on the origin of the vegetable king- 
dom. I have advanced the hypothesis! that plants 
are the degenerate descendants of protozoan animal 
ancestors, and I will now produce some of the evi- 
dence on which the hypothesis rests. The Myxomy- 
cetes or Mycetozoa occupy debatable ground between 
the vegetable and animal kingdoms. They seem at 
one period of their history to pertain to the former and 
at another to the latter. 

These organic beings are claimed by both botanists 
and zodlogists, the former placing them with the 
Fungi, the latter including them in the Protozoa. 
The fact is that in their mature form they enter the 
Fungi, while in their early stages they are Protozoa. 
They have distinct reproductive structures, which pro- 
duce spores. From each spore issues a ‘‘ flagellula,” 
which is a simple cell with a flagellum, not apparently 


1 Origin of the Fittest, pp. 431-432. 


220 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


different from a monad. The flagellum is early lost, 
and the cell is then termed an amcebula, since it does 
not differ materially from an amceba. Its movements 
are similar, and it puts forth short pseudopodia. When 
these amcebule come in contact with each other they 


Fig. 54.—Mycetozoa (from Lankester after Du Bary). 1-6, Germination 
of spore (1) of 7rchea varia, showing the emerging flagellula; (4-5) and its 
conversion into an ameebula(6). 7-18, Series leading from spore to plasmo- 
dium phase of Chondrioderma difforma; 7, spore; 10, flagellula; 12, ame- 
bula; 14, apposition of two ameebule; 15-17, fusions; 18, plasmodium. 19- 
20, Spore-fruit (cyst) of Physarum leucopheum X 25; the former from the sur- 
face, the latter in section with the spores removed to show the sustentacular 
network or capillitium. 21, Section of the spore-cyst of Dydymium squamutlo- 
sum, with the spores removed to show the radiating capillitium x, and the 
stalk. 


fuse, often in large numbers, forming a continuous 
gelatinous sheet, the plasmodium (Fig. 54), which 
may have several square inches, and even feet of sur- 
face. At the proper time reproductive organs form 
on this surface in the form of capsules (sporangia), 
which may or may not be supported on peduncles, and 


CATAGENESIS. 221 


which are filled with minute cyst-like masses of proto- 
plasm, or spores. As already stated, these spores 
give issue to flagellula. 

We have in the life of the Mycetozoa, if not the 
actual origin of the vegetable from the animal king- 
dom, a case closely similar to it in a collateral phylum. 
The process is one of degeneracy through the assump 
tion of a sessile life, or earth-parasitism ; an example of 
akinetogenesis. The paleontology of animals has ab- 
solutely established the fact that the predecessors of 
all characteristic or specialized types have been un- 
specialized or generalized types, ‘‘neither one thing 
nor another.” It may then be regarded as almost cer- 
tain that the ancestors of the present higher types of 
plants were more animal-like than they; that the forms 
displaying automatic movements were more numerous, 
and the difficulty of deciding on the vegetable or ani- 
mal nature of a living organism greater than it is now. 
Hence it may be concluded that ‘‘animal” bathmism 
has from time to time undergone retrograde meta- 
morphosis producing as a result the permanent form 
of life which we call vegetable. Given spontaneous 
movement (i. e. growth) and surrounding conditions, 
and the resultant product must be structures adapted 
to their surroundings, just as the plastic clay is fitted 
toitsmould. And this is essentially the distinguishing 
character of vegetable teleology as compared with ani- 
mal. In the average plant we see adaptation to con- 
ditions permitted by unconscious nutrition and repro- 
duction ; in the animal, adaptation to a greater variety 
of conditions, due to the presence of sensation or con- 
sciousness. 

In closing Part I. of this book, I desire to point 
out the conclusion which has, I think, been reached. 


222 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


It has been proved, as it appears to me, that the vari- 
ation which has resulted in evolution has not been 
multifarious or promiscuous, but in definite directions. 
It has been shown that phylogeny exhibits a progres- 
sive advance along certain main lines, instead of hav- 
ing been indefinite and multifarious in direction. 

It is not denied that many lines of variation have 
been at one geologic period and another discontinued. 
It is also true that certain divergences from the main 
lines have appeared, and that minor and secondary 
variations have occurred. Such variations do not seem 
to have had any material effect on the general course 
of evolution. In many cases such variations from 
main lines might be compared to the undulations in 
the course of a stream, which nevertheless seeks its 
lowest level in spite of all temporary obstacles. Pro- 
fessor Scott has termed these temporary variations ‘‘nu- 
tations,’’ in an able article on the subject.! ‘*Sports” 
seem to have been of no importance in evolution what- 
ever. 


American Journal Sc?. Arts, Vol. XLVIII., 1894, p. 355. 


PART IL. 


THE CAUSES OF VARIATION. 


PRELIMINARY. 


N Part II., which treats of the causes of variations, 
I propose to cite examples of the direct modifying 
effect of external influences on the characters of indi- 
vidual animals and plants. These influences fall nat- 
urally into two classes, viz., the physico-chemical 
(molecular), and the mechanical (molar). The modi- 
fications so presented are supposed to be the result of 
the action of the causes in question, continued through- 
out geologic time. To the two types of influence 
which thus express.themselves in evolution, I have 
given the names Physiogenesis! and Kinetogenesis. 
The inheritance of character is assumed in this sec- 
tion, and the ‘reason for so doing will be considered 
later, in the third section of this book. 

In the animal kingdom we may reasonably suppose 
that kinetogenesis is more potent as an efficient cause 
of evolution than physiogenesis. In the vegetable 
kingdom it is quite evident that evolution is more 
usually physiogenetic than kinetogenetic. Atmospheric 
and terrestrial conditions play a major réle in the 


1‘ The Energy of Evolution.” Amerzcan Naturalist, March, 1894. ‘‘ The 
Origin of Structural Variations” in New Occaszons, Chicago, May, 1894. C.H. 
Kerr & Co. : 


226 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


determination of plant-structure, but motion has also 
had an important influence. The motion, however, 
has originated in small degree in the plant itself, but 
has been derived from without. Some importance 
must be ascribed to the effects of winds, but the prin- 
cipal source of the especial strains to which plants 
have been subjected, has been the insect world. In- 
sects have been inhabitants of land-plants since their 
origin in early Paleozoic ages, and the mutual relations 
of plants and insects have ever been intimate. As has 
been insisted by Miller and Henslow, the uses to 
which the floral organs have been put by hymenopte- 
rous and other insects have been probably a principal 
cause of the forms assumed by the former. From this 
direction has been derived the kinetogenetic influence 
in plant evolution. The few independent movements 
displayed by plants may have had some influence on 
the evolution of their structure. We have no reason 
as yet to suppose that such movements have any other 
than purely physical factors. 


CHAPTER V.—PHYSIOGENESIS. 


OTANISTS and gardeners are familiar with the 
effects of physical causes in producing modifica- 
tions in the characters of plants. That modifications 
so produced have become hereditary is known to be 
the fact, and we may therefore infer that the evolution 
of plant forms has been produced in large degree by 
similar agencies in past geological ages. Says Hens- 
low :1 «*M. Carriére raised the radish of cultivation, 
Raphanus sativus L., from the wild species, R. rapha- 
nistum L., and moreover found that the turnip-rooted 
form resulted from growing it in a heavy soil, and the 
long-rooted one in a light soil. Pliny records the same 
fact as practised in Greece in his day, saying that the 
male (turnip form) could be produced from the female 
(long form) by growing it in a ‘‘cloggy soil.” The 
rule may be laid down that a species [of plant] may 
be constant as long as its environment is constant, but 
no longer. I have changed the spiny Ononis spinosa 
L., the rest-harrow, both by cuttings and.by seed into 
a spineless form, undistinguishable from the species 
O. repens L. in two years; but it would have, I doubt 


1 Natural Science, 1894, pp. 259-260. 


228 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


not, at once reverted to the O. spinosa if I had re- 
planted it on the poor soil from which I took it. It 
seems, therefore, to be a very hazardous and fallacious 
method of testing the value of specific or other char- 
acters by cultivation. A wild plant may or may not 
change at once. Thus the carrot, Daucus carota L., 
proved refractory with Buckman, but not with Vilmo- 
rin, who converted this annual into a hereditary dzen- 
nial by sowing the seed late in the season, till the 
character of flowering in the second season became 
fixed.” 

The prevalence of spinous plants in dry and desert 
regions has often been described.1 The same is true of 
reptiles, although spines appear on some species in 
fertile regions. Spines of plants are believed to be 
twigs, petioles, leaves, etc., partially aborted under the 
influence of drought, or the absence of the water neces- 
sary to the tissues of the parts in question. Wallace 
points out, however, that there are spinous plants in 
humid climates, citing the Gleditschia (honey locust) 
as an example. The spines of such plants may be sur- 
vivals of periods of drought in previous geologic ages. 
Or desiccation of certain parts of a plant might be a 
form of abortion of those parts, a phenomenon which 
is confined to no region, and is evidently due to causes 
other than drought in some cases. Henslow (/. c.) 
says: ‘‘They [spines] originate, I maintain, as a mere 
accidental and inevitable result of the arrest of the 
organ in question, such arrest being maznly due to 
drought.” 

One of the best expositions of the influence of the 
physical characters of the environment on the struc- 
ture of animals is to be found in Semper’s work, Ani- 


1 Natural Science, 1894, September, p. 179. 


PHYSIOGENESIS. 229 


mal Life, to which I refer my readers for a fuller ex- 
position than can be given here. 


a. Relation of the Size of Shells of Mollusca to the En- 
vironment. 


' It has been observed that both in natural condi: 
trons and in confinement, shells of fresh-water Mol- 
lusca grow to a larger size in larger bodies of water, 
and become reduced in size as the bulk of water in 
which they live is reduced. Varigny has shown that 
the reduced size follows a reduction of the air-surface 
of the water rather than a reduction of the actual bulk, 
though the two conditions may often coincide. He 
also shows that, other things being equal, the size of 
individuals is inversely as their numbers in a given 
enclosure. , 


b. The Conversion of Artemia Into Branchinecta.4 


In 1871 the spring flood broke down the barriers 
separating the two different lakes of the salt works 
near Odessa, diluting the water in the lower portion | 
to 8° Beaumé, and also introducing into it a large 
number of the brine shrimp, Artemia salina. After the 
restoration of the embankment, the water rapidly in- 
creased in density, until in September, 1874, it reached 
25° of Beaumé’s scale, and began to deposit salt. With 
this increase in density, a gradual change was noticed 
in the characters of the Artemiz, until late in the 
summer of 1874 forms were produced which had all 
the characters of a supposed distinct species, 4. mwel- 
hausenit. The reverse experiment was then tried. A 
small quantity of the water was then gradually diluted, 


lAbstracted from an account by J. S. Kingsley, Standard Natural His- 
tory, Vol. Il. x 


230 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


by M. Vladimir Schmankewitsch, who conducted the 
experiments, and though continued for only a few 
weeks, a change in the direction of A. salina was very 
apparent. Led by these experiments, he tried still 
others. Taking Artemia salina, which lives in brine of 
moderate strength, he gradually diluted the water, and 
obtained as a result a form which is known as Brancht- 
necta schafferit, the last segment of the abdomen hav- 
ing become divided into two. Nor is this change pro- 
duced by artificial means alone. The salt pools near 
Odessa, after a number of years of continued washing, 
became converted into fresh-water pools, and with the 
gradual change in character, Artemia salina produced 
first a species known as Branchinecta spinosa, and at a 
still lower density Branchinecta ferox, and another spe- 
cies described as B. media. Here not only new species 
were produced, but a new genus. 


c. The Production of Colors in Lepidopterous Pupe. 


The following important contribution to this sub- 
ject has been made by Poulton.! As an illustration of 
the direct effect of the environment in the production 
of color-changes, it is of the greatest value. Several 
lepidopterists, among others Weismann and Merrifield, 
had shown that by exposing the pupa of butterflies to 
low temperatures material changes in the coloration 
of the mature insects can be produced. Says Poulton: 
“In 1867 Mr. T. W. Wood exhibited to the Entomo- 
logical Society of London a number of chrysalides of 
the large and small garden white butterflies (Preris 
brassice and P. rape), which corresponded in color to 
the surfaces to which they were attached. Dark pupe 


1 The Colors of Animals, International Scientific Series, Vol. LXVIII, by 
E. B. Poulton, London, 1890. 


PHVSIOGENESIS. 231 


had been found on tarred fences and in subdued light; 
light ones on light surfaces; while green leaves were 
shown to produce green chrysalides, at any rate in cer- 
tain cases. 

‘During the following nineteen years, gradual con- 
firmation of Mr. Wood’s central position was afforded. 
In 1873 Professor Meldola supported the observations 
upon the chrysalides of the ‘‘garden whites.” He 
compared large numbers of individuals and found that 
the pupe upon black fences were darker than those 
upon walls. 

“<In 1874 a paper by Mrs. M. E. Barber, and com- 
municated by Mr. Darwin to the Entomological So- 
ciety of London, was printed in the transactions of 
that society. Mrs. Barber had experimented with a 
common South African swallow-tailed butterfly (Papz- 
fia nireus), and had found the chrysalis wonderfully 
sensitive to the colors of its environment. When the 
pup were attached among the deep green leaves of 
the food-plant, orange, they were of a similar color; 
when fixed to dead branches covered with withered, 
pale, yellowish-green leaves, they resembled the latter. 
One of the caterpillars affixed itself to the wood frame 
of the case, and then became a yellowish pupa of the 
same color as the wooden frame. 

‘¢Mr. Maurel Weale also showed that the color of 
certain other South African pupz can be modified, and 
Mr. Roland Trimen made some experiments upon an- 
other African swallow-tail (Papilio demoleus) confirm- 
atory of Mrs. Barber’s observations. He covered the 
sides of the cage with bands of many colors, and found 
that green, yellow, and reddish-brown tints were re- 
sembled by the pupz, while black made them rather 
darker. Bright red and blue had no effect. The larve 


232 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


did not exercise any choice, but fixed themselves in- 
discriminately to colors which their pupa could re- 
semble and those which they could not.. Inthe nat- 
ural conditions the latter would not exist, for the pupze 
can imitate all the colors of their normal environ- 
ments. 

“‘T began work with the common peacock butter- 
fly (Vanessa io), of which the chrysalis appears in two 
forms, being commonly dark gray, but more rarely, 
bright yellowish-green ; both forms are gilded, espe- 
cially the latter. Only six caterpillars could be obtained, 
and these were placed in glass cylinders surrounded by 
yellowish-green tissue-paper. Five of them became 
chrysalides of the corresponding color; the sixth was 
removed immediately after the caterpillar skin had been 
thrown off, and was placed in a dark box lined with 
black paper, but it subsequently deepened into a green 
pupa exactly like the others.. Obviously the surround- 
ings had exercised their influence before the pupa was 
removed. 

‘Being unable to attain more larve of the pea- 
cock, I worked upon the allied. small tortoise-shell 
butterfly (Vanessa urtice), which can be obtained in 
immense numbers. In the experiments conducted in 
1886, over seven hundred chrysalides of this species 
were obtained and their colors recorded. Green sur- 
roundings were first employed in the hope that a green: 
form of pupa, unknown in the natural state, might be 
obtained. The results were, however, highly irregular, 
and there seemed to be no susceptibility to the color. 
The pupe were, however, somewhat darker than usual, 
and this result suggested a trial of black surroundings, 
from which the strongest effects were at once wit- 
nessed : the pupz were ds a rule extremely dark, with 


PHYVSIOGENESIS. 233 


only the smallest trace, and often no trace at all, of the 
golden spots which are so conspicuous in the lighter 
forms. These results suggested the use of white sur- 
roundings, which appeared likely to produce the most 
opposite effects. The colors of nearly one hundred 
and fifty chrysalides obtained under such conditions 
were very surprising. Not only was the black color- 
ing matter asarule absent, so that the pupz weré 
light-colored, but there was often an immense devel- 
opment of the golden spots, so that in many cases the 
whole surface of the pupz glittered with an apparent 
metallic lustre. So remarkable was the appearance 
that a physicist, to whom I showed the chrysalides, 
suggested that I had played him a trick and had .cov- 
ered them with gold-leaf. 

‘These remarkable results led to the use of a gilt 
back-ground as even more likely to produce and in- 
tensify the glittering appearance. By this reasoning 
I was led to make the experiment which had been sug- 
gested by Mr. Wood nineteen years before. The re- 
sults quite justified the reasoning, for a much higher 
percentage of gilded chrysalides, and still more re~ 
markable individual instances, were obtained among: 
the pupz which were treated in this way. 

‘«These observations and experiments had been 
made when I began to work at the subject in 1886: 
they appeared to prove that the power certainly exists, 
but nothing was really known as to the manner in 
which the adjustment is effected. Mr. S. W. Wood’s 
original suggestion, that the ‘skin of the pupa is pho- 
tographically sensitive for a few hours only after the 
caterpillar’s skin has been shed,’ was accepted by most 
of those who had worked at the subject. And yet the 
suggestion rested upon no shadow of proof; it de- 


234 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


pended upon a tempting but overstrained analogy to 
the darkening of the sensitive photographic plate un- 
der the action of light. But the analogy was unreal, 
for, as Professor Meldola stated in the discussion which 
followed Mrs. Barber’s paper, ‘ the action of light upon 
the sensitive skin of a pupa has no analogy with its 
action on any known photographic chemical. No 
known substance retains permanently the color re- 
flected on it by adjacent objects.’ The supposed ‘pho- 
tographic sensitiveness’ of chrysalides was one of those 
deceptively feasible suggestions which are not tested 
because of their apparent probability. It would have 
been very easy to transfer a freshly formed pupa from 
one color to another which is known to produce an 
opposite effect upon it; and yet if this simple experi- 
ment had been made the theory would have collapsed, 
for the pupa would have been found to resemble the 
first color and not the second. Furthermore, Mr. 
Wood’s suggestion raised the difficulty that chrysa- 
lides which had become exposed in the course of a 
dark night would have no opportunity of resembling 
the surrounding surfaces, for the pupal colors deepen 
very quickly into their permanent condition. 

‘‘Having thus defined the time of susceptibility. 
the next question was to ascertain the organ or part of 
the larva which is sensitive. At first it appeared 
likely that the larve might be influenced through their 
eyes (ocelli), of which they have six on each side of 
the head. Hence, in many experiments the eyes of 
some of the larve were covered with an innocuous 
black opaque varnish, and they, together with an equal 
number of normal larve from the same company, were 
placed in gilt or white surroundings. The pupe from 
both sets of larve were, however, always equally light- 


PHYSIOGENESIS. 235 


colored. It then seemed possible, although highly im- 
probable, that the varnish itself might act as a stimulus 
similar to that caused by gilt or white surroundings, 
and therefore the experiments were repeated with black 
surroundings in darkness, but the pupz of the two sets 
were again almost identical, so that it appeared cer- 
tain that the eyes can have nothing to do with the in- 
fluence. 

‘Tt then seemed possible that the large branching 
bristles, with which the larve are covered, might con- 
tain some organ which was affected by surrounding 
colors, but experiments in which half of the larve were 
deprived of their bristles showed conclusively that the 
sensitive organs must have some other position, for 
the pupz from both sets of larve were identical. 

‘‘T was thus driven to the conclusion that the gen- 
eral surface of the skin of the caterpillar is sensitive to 
color during stage ii, and part of stage iii. In order 
to test this conclusion, I wished to subject the body of 
the same larve to two conflicting colors, such as black 
and gold, producing the most opposite effects upon 
the pupa. Such an experiment, if successfully carried 
out, would decide some important points. If the part 
of the body containing the head was not more sensi- 
tive than the other part, a valuable confirmation of the 
blinding experiments would be afforded. Mrs. Bar- 
ber’s suggestion that particolored pupz may be pro- 
duced by the influence of two colors would be tested 
in a very complete manner ; if particolored pupz were 
obtained, it seemed probable that the light acts di- 
rectly upon the skin, but if they could not be obtained, 
it seemed more probable that the light influences the 
termination of nerves in the skin, and that the pupal 
colors are produced through the medium of the nervous 


236 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


system. The experiments were conducted in’ two 
ways. In the first, the larve were induced to suspend 
themselves from sheets of clear glass, by placing them 
in wide shallow boxes, so that the ascent to the glass 
roof was easily accomplished. As soon as suspension 
(stage iii.) had taken place, each larva was covered 
with a cardboard tube, divided into two chambers by 
a horizontal partition, which was fixed rather below 
the middle. There was a central hole in the partition 
just large enough to admit the body of the larva. The 
tube was fixed to the glass sheet with glue; the upper 
chamber was lined with one color, e. g. gilt, and the 
lower chamber with the opposite color, e. g. black, 
with which the outside of the cylinder was also cov- 
ered, in case the larva should stretch its head beyond 
the lower edge. The partition was fixed at sucha 
height that the larval head and rather less than half of 
the total surface of skin were contained in, the lower 
chamber, while rather more than half of the skin sur- 
face was contained in the upper chamber. 

‘The second method of conducting the conflicting 
color experiments was superior in the more equal illu- 
mination of the upper and lower colors. The bottom 
of a shallow wooden box was covered with alternate 
areas of black and gilt papers, and partitions were 
fixed along the lines where the two colors came in 
contact. Each partition was gilt toward the gilt sur- 
face, and black toward the black surface, and was per- 
forated close to the bottom of the box with holes that 
would just admit the body of a larva. The box was 
then placed in a vertical position towards a strong 
light, so that the partitions became strong shelves, 
while the black and gilt surfaces were uppermost alter- 
nately. As soon as a larva was suspended to a glass 


PHYSIOGENESIS. 237 


sheet, the boss of silk was carefully scraped off and 
was pinned on the upper color, above one of the holes, 
so that the head and first five body-rings passed 
through the hole on to the color beneath, which tended 
to produce opposite effects. Other larva were simi- 
larly fixed between the shelves upon one color only, so 
as to afford a comparison with the results of the con- 
flicting colors. 

“‘A careful comparison of all the pupe obtained in 
the conflicting’ color experiments showed that, when 
the illumination of the two surfaces was equal, the ef- 
fective results were produced by that color to which 
the larger area of skin had been exposed, whether the 
head formed part of that area or not. Particolored 
pupz were never obtained. It therefore appears to be 
certain that the skin of the larva is influenced by sur- 
rounding colors during the sensitive period, and it is 
also probable that the effects are wrought through the 
medium of the nervous system. The latter conclu- 
sion receives further confirmation from other observa- 
tions.” . 

Professor Poulton has since produced remarkable 
color-changes in the larve of Lepidoptera by confin- 
ing them to the branches of plants of distinct colors. 
Thus geometrid larve confined to the stems of a black 
color, became correspondingly dark; while those re- 
stricted to white twigs became very pale. These larve, 
and, still more strikingly, those of Cossus ligniperda, 
when confined on branches which supported lichens, 
became of variegated colors, corresponding with those 
of the lichens, and affording an admirable means of 
concealment. 


238 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


d. The Effect of Light on the Colors of Flatfishes. 


It is well known that the side of the body which is 
uppermost in the normal position in the flatfishes 
(Pleuronectidz) is colored generally with dark tints, 
and frequently with a distinct pattern, while the lower 
side is white. This is due to the absence from the 
lower side of the chromatophore or pigment-contain- 
ing cells, which are abundant on the upper side. The 
young fish has chromatophore on both sides as it has 
its eyes also in the normal position, but as the fish 
turns the left side upwards and the right eye gradually 
rotates to the left side, the chromatophore disappear | 
from the right side, which thus becomes colorless. 

Prof. J. T. Cunningham! experimented with young 
flounders taken at the beginning or middle of their 
metamorphosis, by placing a mirror below the aqua- 
rium in which they were kept, at an angle of 45°, and 
cutting off the light from above by an opaque cover. 
In the great majority of the specimens treated in this 
way, after several months, although no effect was pro- 
duced upon the eyes, more or less of the skin of the 
lower side was pigmented. He thus showed that the 
absence of pigment on that side in the normal fish is 
due to its position in shadow, where little light can 
reach it. 


e. The Effect of Feeding on Color in Birds. 


Mr. F. E. Beddard cites the following remarkable 
example of the direct effect of internal physical causes 
in producing change of coloration.” 


1 Zoologischer Anzeiger, 1891. 


2 Animal Coloration, an Account of the Principal Facts and Theories Relat- 
ing to the Colors and Markings of Animals, By Frank E. Beddard, M. A. 
Oxon., F.R. S. E. With Four Colored Plates; and Wood-Cuts in the Text. 
London. Swan Sonnenschein & Co. New York: Macmillan & Co. 1892. 


PHYSIOGENESIS. 239 


‘«That the yellow color of canaries can be altered 
to an orange red by mixing cayenne pepper with their 
food, has been known for along time. This curious 
fact was first discovered in England, as was also the 
fact that the different races of canaries vary in their 
susceptibility to the action of the pepper; some kinds 
are more, others are less, affected, while one race is 
absolutely without any power of having its coloration 
altered by these means. The color-change is pro- 
duced by feeding the newly hatched young with the 
pepper conveyed in their food or the old birds while 
sitting upon the nest are furnished with food contain- 
ing the cayenne, which they in turn feed their offspring. 
The color change can, in fact, be only brought about 
in very young birds whose feathers are not completely 
matured ; it is quite impossible to produce any altera- 
tion upon the full-grown canary. Clearly, therefore, 
here is an instance of the direct effect of food upon 
color. An interesting paper upon the subject, which 
has also furnished me with the facts already men- 
tioned, has lately appeared,! and it will be of interest 
to give some account of the author’s (Dr. Sauermann’s) 
experiments for reasons that will appear. Cayenne 
pepper, of course, is a composite substance, from which 
a number of distinct chemical substances can be ex- 
tracted: the red color is caused by a pigment termed 
capsicin, which can be separated from the pepper ; 
and it might easily be supposed that the change from 
yellow to red in the feathers of the canary was simply 
caused by a transference of the pigment, as in the 
cases mentioned on page 127; but Dr. Sauermann 
shows that it is not so. Yellow-colored canaries were 


lArchiv fiir Anatomie und Physiologie, 1889. Physiologische Abtheilung, 
543- 


240 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


not in the very slightest degree affected by the 'pig- 
ment alone; but, curiously enough, particolored birds 
did react,—the brown parts of the feathers became 
distinctly lighter in hue. It isa fatty substance (trio- 
lein) which appears to convey the pigment, and to pro- 
duce thus a changing of the color from yellow to red ; 
and further experiments were made with other birds, 
showing that it is not only canaries which are influenced 
by their food in this way, Some white fowls, belong- 
ing to a special breed, showed traces of yellow among 
the feathers after feeding with cayenne; but in this 
_case there were not racial but individual differences in 
susceptibility, for all the specimens of birds experi- 
mented with did not react to the stimulus. 

‘“‘A similar series of experiments was made with 
some other colors: it was found with carmine that the 
yellow color was destroyed and the birds became white. 
This unexpected effect is explained by the fact that a 
mixture of violet and yellow produces white. The fact 
that the fatty constituent, triolein, plays the chief part 
in the coloring of the feathers may perhaps help to ex- 
plain the very singular fact that the Amazon parrots 
change from green to yellow when fed upon the fat of 
_certain fishes. 

‘With regard to the white fowls referred to, the 
experiments made by Dr. Sauermann were particularly 
interesting. The interest lies in the fact that the pig- 
ment was not absorbed equally by all the feathers ; 
only special tracts were affected ; the breast feathers, 
for instance, became red, while the head remained 
white. It is therefore quite credible that in a state of 
nature partial alteration of color may be produced by 
a change of diet.” 

in a chapter of Dr. Beddard’s book relating to pro- 


PHYSIOGENESITS. 241 


tective resemblances will be found an account of sev- 
eral examples of animals which have apparently ac- 
quired a resemblance to their surroundings by the 
transference of pigment to their bodies in their food. 


J. The Blindness of Cave-Animals. 


Neo-Lamarckian writers have always ascribed the 
absence or rudimentary condition of the eyes charac- 
teristic of animals which dwell exclusively in caves, to 
disuse consequent on the absence of light. Lamarck 
ascribed the rudimentary condition of the eyes in the 
mole to this cause. As the removal of so important 
an organ as the eye is not accomplished in a single 
generation, the element of heredity enters the propo- 
sition. This subject is reserved for Part Third of this 
book; nevertheless, for the present suspending judg- 
ment as to this question, it has been rendered exceed- 
ingly probable by embryological investigations into the 
history of dwellers in darkness, that the Neo-Lamarck- 
ian view is the correct one.!_ Says Packard: 

‘«In my essay on Zhe Cave Fauna of North America 
(p. 139), I record the fact that in the young of the 
blind crayfish (Orconectes pellucidus), the eyes of the 
young are perceptibly larger in proportion to the rest 
of the body than in the adult, the young specimen ob- 
served being about half an inchin length. Previously 
to this, Dr. Tellkampf, in 1844, remarked that ‘the 
eyes are rudimentary in the adults, but are larger in 
the young.’ Mr. S. Garman states, regarding the blind 
Cambarus of the Missouri Cave: ‘Very young speci- 
mens of C. sefosus correspond better with the adults of 
C. bartonii; their eyes are more prominent in these 


1] am indebted for a résumé of this subject to Packard, American Nat- 
uvalist, 1884, P. 735. 


242 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


stages, and appear to lack but the pigment.’ In the 
blind cave-shrimp (Troglocaris) of Austria, Dr. Joseph 
discovered that the embryo in the egg is provided with 
eyes. 

“In this connection should be recalled the observa- 
tions of Semper in his Animal Life (pp. 80, 81) on Pin- 
notheres holothuria, which lives in the ‘water-lungs’ 
of holothurians, where, of course, there is an absence 
of light. The zoéa of this form has large ‘ well-de- 
veloped eyes of the typical character. Even when 
they enter the animal they still preserve these eyes; 
but as they grow they gradually become blind or half- 
blind, the brow grows forward over the eyes, and 
finally covers them so completely that, in the oldest 
individuals, not the slightest trace of them, or of the 
pigment, is to be seen through the thick skin, while, 
at the same time, the eyes seem to undergo a more or 
less extensive retrogressive metamorphosis.’ 

‘In this connection may be mentioned the case of 
the burrowing blind shrimp (Ca/ianassa stimpsonit), 
which has been found by Prof. H. C. Bumpus, at 
Wood’s Holl, Mass., living in holes at a depth of be- 
tween one and two feet. He has kindly given me a 
.specimen of the shrimp, which is blind, with reduced 
eyes, smaller in proportion to the body than those of 
the blind crayfish. He has also obtained the eggs, 
and has found that the embryos are provided with dis- 
tinct black, pigmented eyes, which can be seen through 
the egg-shell. 

‘‘Recently, Zeller has studied the embryology of the 
Proteus of Adelsberg Cave, and has confirmed the 
statement of Michahelles, who, in 1831, discovered 
that the eyes of this animal are more distinct in the 


PHYSIOGENESIS, 243 


young and somewhat larger than in the adult. We 
quote and translate from Zeller’s account: 

‘<« The development of the eyes is very remarkable ; 
they are immediately perceived and present themselves 
as small, but entirely black and clearly drawn circular 
points, with a slit which is very narrow, and yet, at 
the same time, well defined, and which penetrates 
from the lower circumference out to the middle. 

««<«Tndeed, one can hardly doubt that this astonish- 
ing development of the eye has been accomplished by 
the influence of light, as has also the pigmentation of 
the skin, the reddish-white ground-color of which ap- 
pears thickly studded with very small brownish-gray 
points mixed with detached white ones, over the upper 
surface of the head and over the back, down over the 
sides of the yellowish abdomen. Even on the edge of 
the fins (Flossensaum) the pigment is found. On the 
other hand, there is a whitish spot over the snout, as 
is likewise the case in the adult creatures which have 
been colored by the light. Both the under surface of 
the head and the entire abdomen are shown free from 
pigment like the limbs. . 

“«¢«T cannot specify very exactly as to when the pig- 
mentation of the skin begins, but, in any case, it is 
very early, and often earlier that the first beginning of 
the eyes can be discovered. The latter occurs toward 
the end of the twelfth week, at which time a thin, light 
gray line, which still appears overgrown, may be per- 
ceived, forming a half-circle, open underneath. Then 
while this line subsequently becomes clearer and 
darker, and its ends grow further under and towards 
each other, there also takes place simultaneously a 
progression of the pigment larger towards the middle 
point, and the circle finally seems closed and filled up 


244 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


to the narrow slit mentioned above, which proceeds 
from the lower circumference and penetrates to the 
middle of the eye’ (pp. 570, 571). 

‘But the most striking discovery bearing on this 
subject is that of the condition of the eyes in the em- 
bryo and young compared with the adult of the blind 
goby of San Diego. 

‘(In his essay on The Fishes of San Diego, Professor 
Eigenmann briefly refers to and gives four figures 
(Fig. 55) of the embryo of Typhlogobius, Mr. C. L. 
Bragg having been fortunate enough to discover the 
egg in the summer of 1891. ‘The eyes develop nor- 
mally, and those of No. 4 differ in no way from the 
eyes of other fish embryos.’ In this case, then, we 
have the simplest and clearest possible proof of the 
descent of this blind fish from individuals with eyes as 
perfect as those of its congeners. 

‘We have been permitted by the Director of the 
United States National Museum to reproduce Profes- 
sor Eigenmann’s excellent figures on the embryo, 
which tell the story of degeneration of the eye from 
simple disease of the organ, the species being exposed 
to conditions of life strikingly different from those of 
its family living in the same bay. 

‘‘Before the discovery of the eggs, the youngest in- 
dividual ever seen is represented in Fig. 55, No. 1, its 
eyes being, though small, yet distinct, and ‘appar- 
ently functional.’ 

“From these data it is obvious that future embryo- 
logical study on cave-animals will farther demonstrate 
their origin from ancestors with normal eyes.” 


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CHAPTER VI.—KINETOGENESIS. 


NDER the head of kinetogenesis (development by 
motion) comes the consideration of the effect of 
use and disuse. Use necessarily conditions the evolu- 
tion of useful characters. These characters are such 
by reason of their adaptation to the life-functions of 
the beings which possess them. It is perfectly well 
known, however, that all plants and animals possess 
more or less numerous peculiarities which are not use- 
ful to their possessors. Such are the mamme of male 
animals; the incisions forming palmate or pectinate 
leaves and petals of plants; rudimental organs of all 
kinds; great elongation of the vertebral column, espe- 
cially of the caudal series in certain species ; patches 
of color, or of hairs, at particular places, etc. These, 
and many others may be arranged in divisions accord- 
ing to their probable origin, as follows: 


I. Excess of growth energy. 


Examples: the recurved tusks of the mammoth, babirussa, 
etc.; the elongate feathers of some birds, etc. 


Il. Defect of growth-energy. 


1. Atavism: examples; the tritubercular superior molar of 
certain races of man. 


KINETOGENESIS. 247 


2. Degeneracy from disuse: examples; the rudimental legs 
and digits of numerous lizards. 


3. Degeneracy from disuse and complementary excess else- 
where : examples; reduction in number of molars and in- 
cisors in man; reduced mamme in male Mammalia; re- 
duction of lateral digits in the true horses (Equus). 


4. Physico-chemical causes: here must be probably included 
various color-patches and color-tints, for which no other 


explanation is accessible. , 


Darwin considers several of the above conditions, 
and endeavors to explain some of them as consequences 
of natural selection. Equivalent to the Section I. 
above, he enumerates extraordinary developments of 
particular parts.1 Hesays, ‘‘A part developed in any 
species in an extraordinary degree or manner in com- 
parison with the same part in an allied species, tends 
to be highly variable.” He does not attempt any ex- 
planation of the origin of such characters, except 
through natural selection. Of the characters coming 
under Section IJ. above, he says, ‘‘ Multiple, rudimen- 
tary and lowly organized structures are variable.” Of 
these he remarks, ‘‘I presume that lowness here means 
that the several parts of the organism have been but 
little specialized for particular functions; and as long 
as the same part has to perform diversified work, we 
can perhaps see why it should remain variable, that 
is, why natural selection should not have preserved or 
rejected each little deviation of form so carefully as 
when the part has to serve for some one special pur- 
pose.” Here Mr. Darwin well illustrates his unwilling- 
ness to look to disuse as the cause of the conditions he 
describes. Under ‘‘Compensation and Economy of 
Growth” he quotes from Goethe that ‘‘In order to 


1The Origin of Species, Ed. 1872, p. 119. 


248 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


spend on one side, nature is forced to economize on 
the other side.” I have expressed the same view in 
the following language :} 

“« The complementary diminution of growth-nutrition 
follows the excess of the same in a new locality or or- 
gan, of necessity, if the whole amount of which an 
animal is capable be, as I believe, fixed. In this way 
are explained the cases of retardation of character seen 
in most higher types. The discovery of truly comple- 
mentary parts is a matter of nice observation and ex- 
periment.” An apparent illustration is that of the in- 
crease of the median digits in the diplarthrous Ungu- 
lata contemporaneously with the diminution and atro- 
phy of the lateral digits. This is, however, an exam- 
ple of the relative effects of use and disuse, which pro- 
ceed contemporaneously, and it is probable that most 
if not all cases of complementary growth-relations may 
be expressed in this way. Thus the orthognathism of 
the higher human races is accompanied by full frontal 
development, the two modifications constituting a re- 
tardation of the postembryonic growth of the face. 
But this change can be traced to use, increased brain 
action enlarging that organ, and expanding its osseous 
case, probably at the expense of lime salts which would 
otherwise go to the jaws. Reduction of teeth in Ar- 
tiodactyla and in man cannot be regarded as a useful 
character in itself, but it is complementary to the de- 
velopment of other characters which are useful. 

Under the same head may come perhaps, the facts 
included by Mr. Darwin under the head of ‘‘ Correlated 
Variation.” Of these he says, ‘‘I mean by this ex- 
pression that the whole organization is so tied together 


1“ Method of Creation,” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 
1871, p, 257; Origin of the Fittest, 1887, p. 201. 


KINETOGENESIS. 249 


during its growth and development, that when slight 
variations in any one part occur, and are accumulated 
through natural selection, other parts hecome modi- 
fied.” After referring to various characters of compo- 
site and unbelliferous plants in illustration of such a 
law, he says (/. ¢., p. 116), ‘‘ Hence modifications of 
structure, viewed by systematists as of high value, may 
be wholly due to the laws of variation and correlation, 
without being, so far as we can judge, of the slightest 
service to the species.” Here Mr. Darwin admits the 
insufficiency of natural selection as an explanation of 
the origin of such characters; for he says (p. 119), 
‘Natural selection, it should never be forgotten, can 
act solely for the advantage of each being.” He goes 
further, and admits (p. 114) that the Lamarckian doc- 
trine has some claims to credence, where he says, ‘‘On 
the whole we may conclude that habit, or use and dis- 
use, have in some cases, played a considerable part in 
the modification of the constitution and structure ; but 
that the effects have often been largely combined with, 
and sometimes overmastered by the natural selection 
of innate variations.” 


1. KINETOGENESIS OF MUSCLE. 


The fundamental condition of the molar movements 
of organic beings is the contractility of protoplasm. In 
the Amceba this contractility is a generally diffused 
characteristic of its body-substance, and this is the 
case with Rhizopoda generally. In higher Protozoa 
the contractility is already especially developed in cer- 
tain regions where most needed for the movement of 
the body in definite directions ; generally immediately 
beneath the denser sarcode of the external surface. In 


250 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Stentor this substance presents the appearance of 
longitudinal threads; in Gregarina they encircle the 
body. From these simple beginnings we can follow 
the muscular tissue to its various expressions in all 
classes of animals; to the concentric threads of the 
Ccelenterata ; to the longitudinal bundles beneath the 
integument of worms; and the variously directed 
masses attached to the external skeleton of the Arthro- 
poda, and the internal skeleton of the Vertebrata. The 
ease with which muscular tissue is grown in the higher 
animals under use, permits us to infer that its develop- 
ment in all animals has been due to the same cause. 
Muscular structure is directly related to the needs of 
the structures to which it is attached, in the perform- 
ance of movements. In rudimental limbs muscles are 
reduced in both size and number, distinct slips or 
bodies becoming fused. In enlarged limbs the reverse 
process takes place. Muscular bellies increase in size, 
and in number by subdivision. The muscular system 
in the middle and higher Vertebrata is variable, and its 
plasticity to the stimuli to movements is well known. 
It is evident that definite muscular bands have been 
developed in the lines of resistance which it has been 
necessary to overcome in moving the body or parts of 
it. The movable segments which have become adapted 
for contact with the surrounding media, by development 
of hardness or extent of surface, as limbs (feet, wings), 
and jaws, have naturally become the points of origin 
of the most efficient muscular bands. No one can 
doubt the mutual stimuli which the muscular and 
skeletal systems have exchanged during the process of 
evolution, since they are necessary to each other from 
a mechanical point of view. 


KINETOGENESIS. 251 


Hiiter,! a distinguished specialist in the diseases of 
the joints, gives the following positive information as 
to the easy formation of new modifications of muscu- 
lar structure: 

‘‘Muscular tissue everywhere possesses the capa- 
city to shorten itself in consequence of continued ap- 
proximation of its points of insertion; that is, to be- 
come shorter by the disappearance of tissue, in pro- 
portion to the duration of the approximation. This 
law is of the greatest importance for the muscular con- 
traction of joints, that is, for such restriction of the 
freedom of movement of the articulations as has its 
origin in muscular movements. We have experimen- — 
tal opportunities for the observation of this fact, such 
as the effect of a stiff bandage on an articulation. When 
it is necessary, in consequence of a fracture of the fore- 
arm, to fix the elbow-joint for several weeks in a right- 
angled flexure, we find on the removal of the bandage 
that the power of extension of the fore-arm has been 
much restricted. That the cause is nutritive change 
is proven by the fact that considerable force of mus- 
cular contraction is necessary before the normal ex- 
tension can be effected.” 

Similar phenomena are to be observed in conse- 
quence of a prolonged lying in bed, where no injury 
to the innervation exists. 

‘¢The muscles adapt themselves to the permanent 
positions of the articulations, as in joint-contractions 
which are due to muscular paralysis. Those muscles 
which are habitually stretched, increase in length, 
while those whose insertions are approximated, are 
shortened, producing joint-contraction.” He then goes 


lHtter, ‘Studien an den Extremitatengelenken Neugeborener und Er- 
wachsener.” Virchow’s Archiv fir pathologische Anatomie, Bd. XXV., 6-8. 


252 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


on to describe the effect of such fixation of joints on 
the bones themselves, to which I will refer on a later 
page, under the head of the origin of articular sur- 
faces. 

Professor Eimer of Tubingen has given us a synop- 
sis of the nature of the evolution of the characters of 
the muscular tissue, which is highly instructive, and 
of which I present here an abstract.1_ The conclusions 
reached by Eimer are derived from a general study of 
the subject, both in the laboratory and in the litera- 
ture. He says: 

“(1) It is apparently continued contractions of the 
protoplasm in definite directions, which have produced 
muscular masses. Since plants do not display con- 
tinuous and vigorous movements, they have not de- 
veloped muscular bodies. , 

“‘(2) Undoubted facts indicate that from a primi- 
tively identical substance muscular tissue has devel- 
oped in the direction of effective contractions, while 
connective tissue has developed where no contractions 
have been present. 

“«(3) Muscle-masses first appeared almost every- 
where in the external layer of the contractile region: 


‘qa, in Protozoa in the outer layer of the body; 

‘$6, in Metazoa in the tegumentary sheath of 
the body. 

‘¢, They consist first either of muscle-cells, or 
muscle-fibers, from which develop man- 
tle muscle-cells and mantle muscle-fibers. 
Mantle muscle-fibers compose the other- 
wise highly developed striped muscles of 


1“ Die Entstehung und Ausbildung des Muskelgewebes, insbesondere 
der Querstreifung desselben als Wirkung der Thatigkeit betrachtet.” Ze7t- 
schrift fiir wissenschaftliche Zoologie, LIII., Suppl., 1892, p. 67. 


KINETOGENESIS. 253 


Arthropoda, and some Vertebrata (Batra- 
chia). And when the entire muscle-fiber is 
divided into fibrille, there can appear an 
external layer of muscular threads. 

*‘(4) That muscle cells and fibers first appear in 
the external stratum of the active body of animals, is 
due to the especially active movements necessary to 
this part of the body. This is'a simple mechanical 
consequence of the fact, that in a more or less longi- 
tudinally extended body of protoplasm, whether it be 
Protozoén or worm, or muscle-cell or muscle-fiber, that 
its movements must be more vigorous on the external 
than the internal portion of it. Therefore, the former 
would first display muscular structure. 

‘«(5) If the first stage is the development of masses 
of plasma, which display contraction in definite direc- 
tions, the next step is the division of such masses into 
muscle-threads or fibrille. These threads must be re- 
garded as a result of contractions, whose inequality 
produces subdivisions of the original mass. A com- 
pound structure is also more effective than a simple 
one in effecting contractions. 

“«(6) The next stage of evolution of muscular tissue 
consists of the appearance of the cross-striping. The 
mechanical effect of the cross-striping is to distribute 
the contractility equally throughout the length of the 
fiber. The contractions of the unstriped muscular 
fiber are less vigorous, and also less uniformly dis- 
tributed than those of the striped fiber. Zhe cross- 
striping ts a result of contractions. it commences as 
simple undulations of the surface of the fiber. The 
contraction of the plasma is wave-like and is propa- 
gated rapidly through the fiber, and is not due to a 
flow and return of the contained protoplasm. The 


254 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


frequent repetition of these local contractions and en- 
largement of the fiber have resulted in a permanent 
difference in its intimate structure, the alternate waves 
becoming fixed as cross-bands.” 

As evidence of the truth of this proposition, (6), 
Eimer cites many facts. ‘In the muscles of the Mol- 
lusca, striped fibers occur in those forms, as Pecten, 
where the closing of the shell is especially vigorous, 
this being their mode of progress through the water. 
In other forms, where the muscles have no such vigo- 
rous use, the fibers are smooth.. In Arthropoda, the 
muscles of the legs of swiftly running forms are striped, 
while those of the alimentary canal are smooth. It is 
a general law that muscles which have energetic con- 
tractions are striped, while those in which the con- 
tractions are slow or feeble, are smooth. In the com- 
mon house-fly, Eimer records some remarkable obser- 
vations. Flies examined in winter, during the period 
of torpidity, were found to have the fibers of the tho- 
racic muscles smooth. With advance of the spring 
the striping gradually made its appearance, and in the 
summer it was fully developed. An artificial imitation 
of winter, by refrigeration in an ice-cellar, caused the 
cross-striping to disappear. The striping in some 
other animals is shown by Eimer to be strongly in- 
fluenced by physical conditions. 

In fact, muscular tissue is highly plastic, and as it 
is directly under the control of nervous or equivalent 
stimuli, the effect of the latter in building structure is 
evident. That the motion communicated to the hard 
parts through the agency of the muscular system is 
effective in building the hard structures will be shown 
in a subsequent section. 


KINETOGENESIS. 255 


2. KINETOGENESIS IN MOLLUSCA. 


a. The Origin of the Platts in the Columella of the 
Gastropoda. 


Mr. W. H. Dall has developed the mechanics of 
evolution in the Gastropoda, and I quote extracts from 
one of his papers to show the harmony of his views 
with those of other Neo-Lamarckians.! ‘‘ The question 
which first arises is as to the origin of the columellar 
plications and their function. In considering the dy- 
namic relations of the animal to its shell we may ob- 
tain satisfaction on this point. In the fusiform Rha- 
chiglossa an anatomical difference exists to which I 
believe attention has not hitherto been called. In- 
deed, unless the principles of dynamic evolution are 
granted, it is a difference which would appear to have 
little or no significance. These principles, however, 
afford a key which seems to unlock this and many 
other mysteries. In the recent forms of this sort the 
adductor muscle, which in all gastropods is attached 
to the columella at a certain distance within the aper- 
ture, is attached decper within the shelf than in non- 
plicate forms. The point of attachment may be an 
entire turn, or even more, behind the aperture, while 
in short globose few-whorled shells and in the non- 
plicate forms it is, as a general rule, little more than 
half a turn behind the aperture. 

«¢ Now let us consider the dynamics of the case. We 
have, reduced to its ultimate terms, a twisted, shelly, 
- hollow cone, subangulate or even channelled at two ex- 


1 Transactions of the Wagner Free Institute of Science, Philadelphia, Aug., 
1890, p. 58. 


256 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


tremes corresponding to the canal and the posterior 
commissure of the body and outer lip. Inside of this 
we have a thin, loose epithelial cone, the mantle, of 
which the external surface, especially toward the mar- 
gin, is shell-secreting ; lastly, inside of the mantle- 
cone we have a more or less solid third cone, consist- 
ing of the foot and other external parts of the body of 
the animal, which can be extended beyond the mantle- 
cone outwardly, as the mantle-cone can be beyond the 
shell-cone. The body-cone and the mantle-cone are 
attached at one of the angles of the shell-cone some 
distance within the opening of the spiral of the latter. 
The two outer cones constitute a loose, flexible funnel 
within a rigid, inflexible funnel, while the body-cone 
forms a solid, elastic stopper inside of all. 

<¢ What will happen according to mechanical prin- 
ciples (which can be tested by anybody with the sim- 
plest apparatus) when the mantle-cone is withdrawn 
into a part of the shell-cone too small for the natural 
diameter of the contracted mantle-cone? It must 
wrinkle longitudinally. Where will the wrinkles come? 
They will come at the angles of the shell-cone first ; 
they will be most numerous toward the aperture, since 
toward the aperture the mantle-cone enlarges dispro- 
portionately to the caliber of the shell, owing to its 
processes, the natural fold of the canal, etc., etc.; the 
deepest and strongest wrinkles will be on the pillar, 
owing to the fact that the attachment of the adductor 
prevents perfect freedom in wrinkling and the groove 
of the canal will mechanically induce the first fold in 
that vicinity. The most numerous small wrinkles will 
be near the aperture opposite the pillar, because of 
the mantle-edge this is the most expanded part, and 
there will be a tendency to a ridge near the angle of 


KINETOGENESIS, 257 


the posterior commissure. Repeated dragging of a 
shell-secreting surface, thus wrinkled, over a surface 
fitted to receive such secretion, will result in the ele- 
vated shelly ridges which on the pillar we call plica- 
tions; and on the outer lip lire, if long, or teeth, if 
short. The commonly existing subsutural internal 
ridge on the body of the 
shell near the posterior com- 
missure will mark the spe- 
cial conditions in that part 
of the aperture. 

««When the secreting sur- 
face is thus wrinkled or cor- 
rugated longitudinally, the 
wrinkles and the concave 
folds between them will be 
directed in the sense or di- 
rection in which the body 
moves in emerging from or 
withdrawing to the whorl. 
The summits of the convex 
wrinkles will be appressed 
more or less forcibly against 
the shell-wall exterior to 
them in which they are con- Fig. 56.—Fusus parilis Con, the 
fined. The semi-iuid, imy Imi vio“ opened soln 
secretion of which the shell- 
lining is built up, exuding from the whole surface of 
the mantle, will be rubbed away from the lines of the 
summits of the wrinkles and tend to accumulate in 
lines corresponding to the concave furrows between 
the wrinkles. This secretion hardens rapidly and 
these lines would become somewhat elevated ridges 
which would by their presence (when once initiated) 


258 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


tend to maintain the furrows and wrinkles in the same 
place with relation to the thus-initiated lire, as these 
elevated lines are called when on the outer lip; or 
plaits, when situated on the pillar. 

««The modification referred to generally takes place 
during resting stages of the animal’s growth, since 
while the animal is rapidly extending its coil the se- 
cretions seem to be directed toward the extreme mar- 
gin, and the general mantle-surface resumes its secre- 
tive function (or the latter becomes active) somewhat 
later, after the formation of a definite varix, or thick- 
ened margin ; indicating a resting stage in the animal’s 
career. It is probable also that during rapid growth 
there is less compression of the tissues than during the 
resting-stages. The external sculpture and some of 
the modifications of the aperture are connected with 
the functions of the extreme edge of the mantle; those 
we are at present considering relate more especially to 
the function of its general surface by which the layer 
which lines the whorls, the pillar, plaits, and lire are 
solely secreted and deposited. 

“«In species with the abductor attached to the pillar 
near the aperture, the wrinkles would be fewer, and 
their action, if any, confined to the vicinity of the mar- 
gin of the aperture. The deeper the attachment, the 
greater will be the compression of the secreting sur- 
face and the distance over which it is constantly 
dragged back and forth, and the consequent length of 
the ridges of shelly matter deposited. If the inner or 
mantle-cone had the whole cavity to itself, it is evident 
that it could and would infold itself in a manner which 
might not appress its folds against the inner surface 
of the rigid outer or shell-cone. But there the mass 
of the solid and elastic foot and external body comes 


KINETOGENESIS. 259 


into play, and by its withdrawal inward forces the 
wrinkled mantle-cone against the shell. The mantle 
is thus confined between a rigid outer and an elastic 
inner surface, with the result that it cannot recoil from 
the former and that a certain uniformity of size and 


direction is imposed upon the 


wrinkles, except where the re- 
cess of the canal allows them to 
become more emphatic, or to a 
less degree the posterior angle 
permits a slight expansion. The 
mechanical principles involved 
may be readily illustrated by the 
experiment of pulling a hand- 
kerchief through the neck of a 
bottle, or funnel, followed by a 
cork in the center. Of course, 
the more nearly the apparatus 
conforms to the form and twist 
of a spiral shell, the more nearly 
the results will approximate 
those of nature. It is difficult, 
however, to find any artificial 
tissue which will correspond in 
elasticity, or capacity for partial 
self-contraction, to the living tis- 
sues concerned in nature. Hence, 
an exact conformity is not to be 
expected, though the mechanical 


Fig. 57.—Mitra lincolata 
Heilprin, the body-whorl 
opened, showing the pli- 
cations of the columella. 
From Dall. 


principles may be reasonably well illustrated. 

“‘A comparison of specimens will show that the 
results exhibited agree with marvellous precision with 
the results called for by the preceding hypothesis, 
based on the dynamical status of the bodies concerned, 


260 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


their motions and secretions. The agreement is so 
complete as to amount to a demonstration, though in 
certain cases there may be complications which need 
additional explanation. 

«<A point which may be noted in regard to the Vo- 
lutide, to which my attention was called by Mr. Pils- 
bry, is that in this group the mantle is greatly ex- 
tended, and there would be more of it to be wrinkled 
than in such forms as Buccinum, etc. It may be added 
that the forms in which we note the 
beginning of plaits for this family, 
many of them, such as Liopeplum 
and Volutomorpha, had the mantle 
so extended as to deposit a coat of 
enamel over the whole shell, as in 
the modern Cypreza, so that here we 
have an additional reason why plica- 
tion should be emphasized in this 
group. 

‘¢Of course, as before noted, the 
bone qe mechanical principles are the same 
body-whorl opened, in any group of gastropods, but 
rag a ie of among those in which the wrinkling 

is confined to the region of the aper- 
ture, or those shells which are lirate or dentate, as 
opposed to plicate, several other principles come into 
play which may be briefly referred to in passing. In 
the first place, those species which have a very ex- 
tended mantle, with hardly an.exception have a lirate 
aperture (Oliva, Olivella, Cypraa, Trivia, etc.). With 
species in which there is a widely expanded mantle 
and yet no lirations, it will usually be found that the 
mantle is not entirely withdrawn into the shell in such 
forms, or is permanently external to the shell (many 


KINETOGENESIS. 261 


Opisthobranchs, Marseniide, Sigaretus, Harpa, etc.). 
In a group like the Cypreidz, where nearly all the 
species are lirate on both lips, there are a few which 
want these lire, and these are species which have a 
wider aperture in the adult than most of the genus, 
and in which we should expect the wrinkles to be less 
emphatic.” 


b. Mechanical Origin of Characters in the Lamellt- 
branchs (Pelecypoda). 
_ Dr. Robert T. Jackson has pointed out! the history 
of the characters of the retractor muscle and some of 
those of the list, of bivalve Mollusca. I take the fol- 
lowing abstract of his conclusions: ‘‘In the develop- 
ment of pelecypods we find in a late embryonic stage 
(the phylembryonic) that the shell has a straight hinge- 
line. This is characteristic of Ostrea (Fig. 59), Car- 
dium, Anodonta, and so many widely separated genera 
that it apparently represents a primitive ancestral con- 
dition common to the whole class. * Embryology shows 
that the bivalve shell doubtless arose from the split- 
ting on the median line of a primitive univalvular an- 
cestor.. If that ancestor had a saddle-shaped? or a 
cup-shaped? shell, as is probable, the first result of the 
introduction of a hinge in the median line would have 
been to straighten the shell on the hinge-line.- This 
is asimple problem in mechanics, for if one tries to 
break by flexion a piece of metal which is saddle- 
shaped or cup-shaped, it will tend to form a straight 
line on the axis of flexion. A parallel case is seen 
in the development of a bivalve shell in ancient crus- 


1 Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. IV., No. 8, p. 277 
July, 1890; American Naturalist, 1891, p. 11. 


2Characteristic of young Dentalium. 
8Characteristic of the extreme young of cephalous inollushs. 


262 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


taceans. The ancient Ostracoda, Leperditia, Aristo- 
zoe, etc., have a straight hinge-line and subcircular 
valves, which are united dorsally by a ligament. The 
resulting form of the early condition of the bivalvular 
shell in these two distinct classes is so strikingly simi- 
lar, that it lends weight to our supposition that the form 
is induced by the mechanical conditions of the case. 
‘7 think that the adductor muscles which close the 
valves may also be demonstrated to be the necessary 
consequence of the bivalvular condition. In the phyl- 
embryo stage (Fig. 59) the 
valves are closed by a single 
adductor muscle, which is the 
simplest condition mechan- 
ically possible to effect the 
desired end.! This muscle 
does not seem homologous 
with any muscle in other 
classes of mollusks, and is 
probably developed from the 


Fig. 59.—Ostrea edulis, embryo; 
a ad, anterior adductor muscle; mantle muscles as a conse- 


m, mouth; a, anus; v, velum; 4, quence of the conditions of 


hinge of shell. (After Huxley.) . 
the case. In support of this 


view, bivalvular crustaceans may again be cited. They 
have an analogous adductor muscle, developed, of 
course, on an entirely different line of descent, but under 
closely similar mechanical conditions. At the completed 
prodissoconch stage in all pelecypods, as far as known, 
there are two adductor muscles, a second one having 
developed in the posterior portion of the body. In 
later life the anterior, the posterior, or both adductors 


1This early adductor appears in the same position in many genera, and is 
apparently characteristic of the class. It is the anterior of the two adductors 
found in the later stages; but it may be retained or lost in the adult. 


KINETOGENESTS. 263 


may be retained, reduced, or lost, according as the 
persistence or changes in correlated anatomical fea- 
tures retain in use or bring into disuse the muscles in 
question. 

“Let us look at examples of the retention or loss of 
the adductors. In typical dimyarian pelecypods, as 
in Mya (Fig. 60) or Venus, the adductors lie toward 
either end of the longer axis of the shell. As the hinge 
occupies a position on the borders of the shell about 
midway between the adductors, both muscles are nearly 
or quite in a position to be equally functional in clos- 


Fig. 60.—Mya arenaria. Lettering: af ax, antero-posterior axis; kar, 
hinge axis; @ ad, anterior, and / ad, posterior adductor ‘muscle ; 7, mouth; 
?l, palps; @, anus; g, gills; sd, pedal muscle; 7, foot; 4, byssus; 4, heart. 
ing the valves. Asa result, both muscles are of about 
the same size. The condition described is that existent 
in the completed prodissoconch stage in all pelecy- 
pods, as far as known. In later life, however, a revo- 
lution of the axes of the soft parts may take place, so 
that the antero-posterior axis (represented by a line 
drawn through the mouth and middle of the posterior 
adductor muscle), instead of being parallel to the 
hinge-axis (the axis of motion of the valves) as in 
dimyarians, may present a greater or less degree of 
divergence from the parallel. In progressive series, 


264 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


as in Modiola (Fig. 61), Perna, etc., as the adductor 
muscle is brought nearer and nearer to the hinge-line, 


Fig. 61.—Modzola plicatula. Lettering same as in Fig. 60. 


where its mechanical action is less and less effectual 
in closing the valves, we find that it is more and more 
reduced until it finally dis- 
appears from disuse and 
atrophy, as in Ostrea (Fig. 
62), and Pecten. Con- 
versely, the posterior ad- 
ductor in the same series in 
the revolution of the axes is 
pushed farther and farther 
from the hinge-line and 
nearer to the central plane 
of the valves, where its me- 
chanical action is most ef- 
: fectual in closing the valves. 

Fig. 62.—Ostrea virginiana, Let- With its increase in func- 
Bea Se eee tional activity the muscle 
increases in size. The revolved position of the axes, 
and the consequent reduction or loss of the anterior 
adductor and increase of the posterior adductor, is 


KINETOGENESIS. 265 


found in many widely separated genera of pelecypods, 
as Ostrea, Mulleria, and Tridacna; thus proving the 
development of the same features on different lines of 
descent.! In Aspergillum the two valves have con- 
cresced so as to form a truly univalvular, tubular shell, 
so that the adductors would evidently be functionless if 
existent. The posterior adductor has disappeared and 
the anterior is reduced to a few disconnected shreds 
(Fisher), though evidently existent in the young, as 
attested by the form of the shell in the nepionic stage. 

‘« Ordinarily there are two posterior retractor-mus- 
cles of the foot in pelecypods, one situated on either side. 
In adult Pecten either the left retractor alone exists, 
or both retractors are wanting (the left doubtless al- 
ways exists in the young). In studies of young Pecten 
irradians, 1 found that the animal always crawled 
while lying on the right side, with the foot extended 
through the notch in the lower valve and pressed 
against the surface of support. It is evident that while 
crawling in this position the left retractor is in the 
plane of traction, and it is retained ; on the other hand, 
the right retractor would not be in the plane of trac- 
tion, and it has disappeared through disuse and atro- 
phy.? A similar disappearance of the right retractors 
of the foot is seen in Azomia glabra, and is explained 
on similar bases of argument. 

“¢In Mya arenaria we find a highly elongated siphon. 
In the young the siphon hardly extends beyond the 
borders of the valves, and then the animal lives at or 


1Dr. B. Sharp and I published almost simultaneously closely similar 
views on the mechanical aspect of the relative size of the adductors. See 
Proceeds, Phila, Acad., 1888, p. 122, and Proceeds, Boston Soc, Nat, Hist., Vol. 
XXIII., 1888, p. 538. 

2 Both retractors doubtless exist in the prodissoconch stage of Pecten and 
allies. 


266 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


close to the surface. In progressive growth, as the 
animal burrows deeper, the siphon elongates, until it 
attains a length many times the total length of the 
valves. The ontogeny of the individual and the pale- 
ontology of the family both show that Mya came from 
a form with a very abbreviated siphon, and it seems 
evident that the long siphon of this genus was brought 
about by the effort to reach the surface, induced by the 
habit of deep burial. 

‘« The tendency to equalize the form of growth in a 
horizontal plane in relation to the force of gravity act- 
ing in a perpendicular plane, or the geomalic tendency 
of Professor Hyatt, is seen markedly in pelecypods. 
In forms which crawl on the free borders of the valves 
the right and left growth in relation to the perpendic- 
ular is obvious, and agrees with the right and left sides 
of the animal. In Pecten the animal at rest lies on 
the right valve, and swims or flies with the right valve 
lowermost. Here equalization to the right and left of the 
perpendicular line passing through the center of grav- 
ity is very marked (especially in the Vola division of 
the group); but the induced right and left aspect cor- 
responds to the dorsal and ventral sides of the animal, 
—not the right and left sides, as in the former case. 
Lima, a near ally of Pecten, swims with the edges of 
the valves perpendicular. In this case the geomalic 
growth corresponds to the right and left sides of the 
animal. 

«« The oyster has a deep or spoon-shaped attached 
valve and a flat or flatter free valve. This form, or a 
modification of it, we find to be characteristic of all 


1‘ Transformations of Planorbis at Steinheim, with Remarks on the Ef- 
fects of Gravity Upon the Forms of Shells and Animals.’’ Proceeds, A. A. A. 
S., Vol. XXIX., 1880. 


KINETOGENESIS. 267 


pelecypods which are attached to a foreign object of 
support by the cementation of one valve. All are 
highly modified, and are strikingly different from the 
normal form seen in locomotive types of the group. 
The oyster may be taken as the type of the form 
adopted by attached pelecypods. The two valves are 
unequal, the attached valve being concave, the free 
valve flat ; but they are not only unequal, they are 
often very dissimilar,—as different as if they belonged 
to a distinct species in what would be considered typ- 
icalforms. This is remarkable as a case of acquired 
and inherited characteristics finding very different ex- 
pression in the two valves of a group belonging to a 
class typically equivalvular. The attached valve is 
the most highly modified, and the free valve is least 
modified, retaining more fully ancestral characters. 
Therefore, it is to the free young before fixation takes 
place and to the free, least-modified valve that we 
must turn in tracing genetic relations of attached 
groups. Another characteristic of attached pelecy- 
pods is camerated structure, which is most frequent 
and extensive in the thick attached valve. The form 
as above described is characteristic of the Ostreide, 
Hinnites, Spondylus, and Plicatula, Dimya, Pernos- 
trea, Aetheria, and Mulleria; and Chama and its near 
allies. These various genera, though ostreiform in 
the adult, are equivalvular and of totally distinct form 
in the free young. The several types cited are from 
widely separated families of pelecypods, yet all, under 
the same given conditions, adopt a closely similar 
form, which is strong proof that common forces acting 
on all alike have induced the resulting form. What 
the forces are that have induced this form it is not 
easy to see from the study of this form alone; but the 


268 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


ostrean form is the base of a series, from the summit 
of which we get a clearer view.” 


c. Mechanical Origin of the Impressed Zone in Cepha- 
lopoda. 


Prof. Alpheus Hyatt has shown that the groove on 
the dorsum or inside of each coil of the Cephalopoda 
is due to the pressure exercised by contact with the 
ventral side of the coil within it. He has shown that 
this groove persists in cases where the shell in the 
course of evolution has become more or less unwound, 
and he regards this as an example of the inheritance 
of a mechanically acquired character. This subject is 
presented in greater detail in the part of this book de- 
voted to heredity. 


3. KINETOGENESIS IN VERMES AND ARTHROPODA. 


It is believed with good reason that the Arthropoda 
have descended from some of the forms included in 
the branch Vermes, and perhaps Peripatus furnishes 
the nearest living approach to that type. The ances- 
tor, whatever it may have been, developed limbs from 
processes of the body-wall, and used them to aid in 
progression., Peripatus has soft flexible limbs, and a 
non-chitinous integument generally. With the begin- 
ning of induration of the integument, segmentation 
would immediately appear, for the movements of the 
body and limbs would interrupt the deposit at such 
points as would experience the greatest flexure. The 
muscular system would initiate the process, since flexure 
depends on its contractions, and its presence in ani- 
mals prior to the induration of the integuments in the 
order of phylogeny, furnishes the condition required. 
It is a matter of detail how the diverse segmentations 


KINETOGENESIS, 269 


of existing forms were produced. We can believe, 
however, that, as in Vertebrata, there has been a 
gradual elimination of less important segments of the 
limbs, until the highest mechanical efficiency was at- 
tained. We well know how the segments of the head 
and body have been modified by fusion, etc. 

Prof. B. L. Sharp has shown the mechanical con- 
ditions of segmentation in Arthropoda as follows:1 

“It occurred to me that if the theory [of kineto- 
genesis] had a general application, some additional 
proofs could be shown to exist among the inverte- 
brates, where we have the action of muscular force 
upon hard and resisting parts of the skeleton. Those 
which present the best study for this purpose appear 
to be the crustaceans, where we find an immense va- 
riety of articulations in the body and in the limbs; 
highly complicated locked joints, others allowing mo- 
tion in but one plane, as well as loose joints, where 
the hard parts scarcely come in contact with one 
another, and cases of degeneration of the hard parts, 
leading to total disappearance of a previously existing 
joint. : 

‘‘In the Annelides, from which, there is no doubt, 
the arthropod branch sprang, we find no deposit of 
inorganic salts in the epidermis. The outer layer of 
the body is generally of a horn-like character, adher- 
ing closely to the secretive cells of the epidermis, very 
flexible, and thrown into folds by the vermicular mo- 
tion of its possessor. In the leeches the body consists 
of a flexible cylinder, made up of two sets of muscles, 
an outer longitudinal cylinder and an inner cylinder of 
circular fibers, the contraction of which causes the 
animal to increase in length, while shortening is ef- 


lAmerican Naturalist, 1893, p. 89. 


270 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


fected by the contraction of the longitudinal layer. 
The external surface of the medicinal leech, for exam- 
ple, is thrown into a regular series of very fine folds, — 
extending across the longitudinal axis of the body. 
These folds do not correspond in numbers to the so- 
mites of the body, which are not indicated externally, 
five, six, or more of them belonging to one somite. 
When the animal shortens its 
length, these folds are deepened 
and the segments thrown closely to- 
gether ; when extension takes place, 
the folds are flattened, spread open, 
although not wholly disappearing, 
as they are a fixed quantity, so to 
speak. I believe these folds are 
due to mechanical action; by the 
disposition of the different fibers of 
the longitudinal series, in being in- 
serted in a series of planes bounded 
by the valleys between the folds, 
this being aided by some of the 
circular fibers which pass through 
Fig. 63.—Diagrammatic the longitudinal sheath, and find 


representation of the seg- ie 
ments of the leech, show- their attachment to the bases of the 


ing the folds, valleys, and valleys. 
muscular fibers. 


‘Starting from this point, and 
supposing the regularity of the folds to have become 
established from preéxisting folds by the regularity and 
stress of muscular action, we can conceive that when 
deposits of calcareous matter took place, rings simi- 
larly formed by a folding of a soft skin would receive 
that deposit at the most prominent portion of this fold, 
the convex face, and not in the protected valleys, as 
there would be more friction or pressure from external 


KINETOGENESIS, 271 


causes, and no deposits would take place in the val- 
leys themselves, because they would not be subject 
to external friction, and their continual flexion would 
prevent any such deposits. Should such a deposit 
take place in the valleys, there would be a stiffening 
of the whole surface, which would defeat motion. In 
fact, in the leech the cuticle is already much thicker 
on the crests of the folds than in the valleys. 
“In the more .primitive Crus- 
tacea, we find the animal made up 
of rings extending over the whole 
length of the body, similar to the 
rings of the leech, save that there 
is but one ring to one somite, and 
instead of a perpendicular valley 
between the folds, this valley has 
an inward and a forward direction, 
allowing the anterior edge of a 
caudad ring to fit into the posterior 
edge of a cephalad ring. 
‘“‘In the higher Crustacea, sev- 
eral of the anterior rings have co- 
alesced and form a solid shield Fig. 64. —- Diagram- 
- . matic representation of 
which is known as the carapace. the rings of a primitive 
This has no doubt arisen by the  ctustacean,showing the 
. : action of the muscles. 
lessening of the action between the 
anterior rings whén the posterior portion of the body 
became the more active propelling organ. As the ac- 
tion ceased forward the valleys came to rest, and be- 
came exposed to friction and pressure, and conse- 
quently a deposit of calcareous matter took place pro- 
ducing the stiffening above hinted at. 
‘¢ The formation of jointed appendages from para- 
podic paddles of the annelids can be followed out in 


272 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


the same manner, since the manner of mutual relation 
of the segments is the same as in the case of the body- 
segments. 

«Tt has been stated that in the leech the folds do not 
correspond in number to the somites of the body, while 
they doin the Crustacea. All annelids do not move 
by means of a muscular system built upon the plan 
found in the leech. In many the circular layer has to 
a large extent disappeared, for the longitudino-circular 
plan is undoubtedly ante-annelidan. The movement 
of the free medusoid forms, and of the Ctenophora, is 
the result of a modified arrangement of this plan. 

‘«With the disappearance of the circular layer, we 
find a peculiar modification of the longitudinal layer. 
This layer becomes broken up and the fibers act in 
moving the sete, which answer to limbs. Ina seg- 
ment of a setiferous annelid, we may observe that the 
longitudinal muscles of the somite in section at the po- 
sition of the seta are arranged like the letter ‘V’ in 
the fork of which the seta lies, the fibers to the left 
(anterior) pull the seta externally backward, those on 
the right (posterior) pull the seta forward. The in- 
troduction of the sete, the origin of which I do not 
here attempt to explain, has no doubt been, together 
with the establishment of the external segmentation, a 
strong factor in causing the breaking up of the muscu- 
lar tube into sections (myotomes), which by use and 
consequent increase have extended each arm of the 
‘V’ into the segment on each side, while the insertion 
of the end of the seta has caused a break in the muscle 
by the formation of an aponurosis. This gives us the 
peculiar disposition of a myotome to extend across the 
union of two somites. 

“«If we examine the segments of the so-called ab- 


KINETOGENESIS. 273 


domen of the macrurous Crustacea, as the lobster, we 
will find that the anterior face of one abdominal ring 
is pulled into the posterior orifice of the ring lying an- 
terior to it, forming a kind of tubular ball and socket- 
joint, but with a flexible part of the integument with 
no calcareous deposit, folded upon itself, and acting 
physiologically as a tubular Zigamentum teres. On ex- 
amining the different joints, we will find that com- 
mencing at a fixed point, as at the base of the thorax, 
the movable ring of the first abdominal somite is pulled 
znto the fixed part. Then the first abdominal somite be- 
comes the fixed point for the movable ring posterior to 
it, and so on, so that we find that as the rings proceed 
away from the thorax, each is pulled into the opening 
of the one in advance. This is true of all those forms 
where the abdomen is well formed, strong, and an ac- 
tive organ in the economy of the animal; when this 
organ, the abdomen, ceases to be an active organ of 
motion, as in the burrowing forms, as in Callianassa, 
Gebia, some of the Squillide, etc., or where it is folded 
upon the sternum of the thoracic region, the muscles 
becoming weaker through disuse, the rings are not 
subject to the powerful muscular strain, and they as a 
rule overlap but little, if dt all, but lie so that the edge 
of one ring rests upon the edge of another. In those 
forms where degeneration of the abdomen has pro- 
ceeded so far as not to have even the usual deposit of 
calcareous matter, as in the hermit crabs, there are 
simply indications of rings on the abdomen, and this 
organ is but little more than a fleshy sac containing 
some of the viscera, and supplied with a few muscles 
which act together, with the form of the organ, to keep 
the abdomen curled so that it may hold as a hook, the 


274 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


animal within the molluscan shell which it habitually 
inhabits. 

¢¢When the limbs are examined, the same rule will 

be found to hold good, viz.: that the movable part is 

pulled into the fixed part. A modification of this is 

well illustrated in the evolution of the large chelz. In 

some forms, take for example Ibacus, the first pair, 

and in fact all of the thoracic limbs end in a sharp- 

pointed segment, there being not the slightest sugges- 

tion of achela. In Crangon, on the other hand, the 

terminal segment is pulled 

against the broad face of the 

penultimate one thus making 

a shift for a chela. In the 

Stomatopoda this step has 

been developed, for the last 

segment can be drawn against 

the whole length of the pen- 

ultimate one (which is some- 

times grooved to protect the 

points of the spines of the 

. 3 latter) and forms with it a 

Fig. 65.—Diagrams of, «, hand very effective grasping or- 

of a form of Crangon; 2, handofa gan. The continual use of 

iii the terminal segment, the 

increase of the muscular power will tend to draw this 

terminal segment backward (into) on the penultimate 

which enlarges with the increase of bulk of muscle, so 

that a well-developed chela, as in the lobster is found, 

where the ultimate segment is pulled backward to 
about the middle of the penultimate segment.” 


KINETOGENESIS. 275 


4. KINETOGENESIS IN THE VERTEBRATA. 


I have already adduced the evidence in support of 
the doctrine that the structures of the hard parts of 
invertebrates have been produced by muscular move- 
ments. In turning to the Vertebrata we shall find that 
the evidence indicating that the details of their hard 
parts have had a similar origin, is quite convincing. 
This branch of the animal kingdom presents two dis- 
tinct advantages for this study. First, we have a more 
complete paleontologic series than in any other. Sec- 
ond, we have the best opportunity for observation and 
experiment on their growth processes, since we our- 
selves, and our companions of the domesticated ani- 
mals, belong to this branch of the animal kingdom. 

I shall show first, the conditions under which ab- 
normal articulations of the skeleton have been formed ; 
and then the process involved in the formation of 
normal articulations. [I shall then apply these facts 
to the phylogeny of the Mammalia as we know it, and 
then in a more general way to the Vertebrata as a 
whole. 

i. KINETOGENESIS OF OSSEOUS TISSUE. 


a. Abnormal Articulations. 


Hitter, from whom I have quoted under the head 
of ‘* Kinetogenesis of Muscle,” thus describes the effect 
of abnormal conditions of joints on the articular sur- 
faces of the bones which form them. He says: ‘*We 
have abundant opportunity to investigate the change 
of condition which the joints undergo during a year of 
fixed muscular contraction. 

‘¢ The ligaments and burse undergo similar changes 


276 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


to those described for the muscles concerned. They 
elongate at points where the articular surfaces are 
spread apart, and correspondingly shorten where the 
flexure produces a folding. These changes proceed 
more slowly than those of the muscles and tendons. 
Very remarkable are the changes undergone by the 
articular cartilages. When a joint is permanently 
flexed, a part of the extremity of each bone is separated 
from contact with the other, and the articulation is 
finally destroyed at this point, because the cartilage 
begins to vanish. One must conclude that the exist- 
ence of the articular cartilages is dependent on their 
mutual contact ; for dislocated articular surfaces which 
remain in contact with soft tissues only, lose their car- 
tilaginous covering. ... Finally it is possible by a 
consideration of the etiology of the effects of joint con- 
tractions to reach some hitherto unnoticed conclusions 
regarding the changes of articular surfaces, and bone 
forms. The results of joint-contraction are most con- 
spicuous when the latter occurs in childhood. During 
maturity, a dislocation which causes an articular bor- 
der or prominence to rest abnormally on the opposed 
' articular face in the act of walking, will be followed by 
the penetration of the former into the latter, and a de- 
formation of the articulation ; but the corresponding 
changes under like conditions in the growing skeleton 
are much more conspicuous.” 

Hiitter thus describes the formation of new artic- 
ular surfaces as a consequence of dislocation of joints. 
‘Tf the head of the femur or humerus leaves its socket, 
and rests on the side of the ilium or the scapula, the 
periosteum of the bone which receives the new impact 
is excited to active bone-production, and the result is 
the deposit of new osseous tissue. The thin bones 


KINETOGENESIS. 277 


become thicker, not uniformly, but in correspond- 
ence with the periphery of the head of the humerus or 
femur, rather than with the point of contact of the 
latter. This point is irritated, but the contact of the 
ball restrains osseous deposit. So it occurs that grad- 
ually a new socket is developed, whose mechanical 
relations correspond exactly with those of. the articu- 
lating bone. The head also acquires a strictly spher- 
ical shape, by such contractions and atrophies as are 
necessary to produce that result. Further, cartilage 
appears in the place of the periosteum of the socket, 
which functions like the primitive articular cartilage. 
It is characteristic of both connective and periosteal 
tissue to develop cartilage under the stimulus of con- 
tinued friction of hard surfaces, such as occurs in dis- 
locations and fractures.” 

These observations of Hitter have been confirmed 
by Henke, Reyher, Moll, and Lesshaft. Henke and 
Reyher state that the artificial prevention of flexure of 
articulations in young dogs renders them immobile, 
and their restraint of flexure to one direction, results 
in a curving of the articular faces in that direction. 

I cite here two examples of modifications of struc- 
ture under abnormal conditions which imposed new 
impacts and strains on the parts. I have described 
these cases, which are examples of false elbow-joints 
in man and in the horse, in the Proceedings of the Amer- 
ican Philosophical Society for 1892. 

In the first case, that of the human elbow, the 
cubitus was luxated posteriorly, so that the humeral 
condyles articulate with the ulna anterior to the coro- 
noid process. The head of the radius is in contact | 
with the external epicondyle on its posterior inferior 
face. The results.are as follows. A new coronoid 


278 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


process was developed in front of the abnormal posi- 
tion of the humeral condyle to an elevation above the 
shaft of the ulna exceeding that of the normal coro- 
noid. Between it and the normal coronoid was devel- 
oped a perfectly functional cotylus which embraces 
the humeral condyle like the normal cotylus. The 
latter has its articular surface, buried under osseous 
deposit, so as to be no longer visible. The region of 
contact between the head of the radius and the external 
epicondyles, has developed in the latter a large artic- 
ular cotylus which permits of both rotary and ver- 
tical movement of the former. The articular surface 
of the humeral condyles, except where in articulation 
with the ulna, is roughened, and partially overgrown 
with exostoses, so as to alter its form to a great extent. 
The opportunity of examining this specimen I owe to 
Provost Pepper of the University of Pennsylvania, in 
whose museum it is preserved. 

In the case of the horse’s elbow, the luxation of 
the cubitus is inward, so that the olecranon articulates 
with the external epicondylar surface, and the humeral 
condyles are not adapted to the head of the radius; 
their internal border falling considerably internal to 
the inner border of the radius. The horse from which 
this specimen was derived lived for two years after the 
luxation took place, and became able to use the limb 
in some degree. The effect on the articulation is as 
follows. 

A large part of the inferior extremity of the poste- 
rior rib of the shaft of the humerus, which is the place 
of insertion of the external flexor metacarpi muscle, has 
been removed, so as to present a wedge-shaped out- 
line with the apex downward. This removal permits 
the close articulation of the inner face of the olecranal 


KINETOGENESTS. 279 


process with the epicondyle, which has developed a 
considerable articular face, on which movement takes 
place in extension and flexion. The posterior border 
of this face has developed a ridge which borders the 
facet behind, and retains the olecranon in place. Two 
other facets are developed on the humeral condyles, 
and two on the head of the radius. The most impor- 
tant of the latter is a bevel of the external part of the 
surface to the border, due to the contact of the ex- 
panded internal humeral condyle. The articular face 
of the olecranon is much depressed in consequence of 
its articulation with the external epicondyle of the 
humerus. Besides these new and changed facets, the 
effect of the luxation is seen in the development of os- 
seous crests at the points of insertion of the articular 
ligaments. One of these on the humerus has been al- 
ready referred to. Another is concentric with and 
posterior to the internal humeral facet of the olecranar 
process, and serves as a guide to the humeral crest 
above described. A third is an extensive osseous de- 
posit on the internal face of the head of the radius, 
which partially builds an extension of the head of the 
radius, which if completed would articulate with the 
overhanging portion of the internal humeral condyle. 
A third modification of normal structure is similar to 
that observed in the human elbow. It consists of os- 
seous deposit beneath the synovial bursa at points 
where the luxation causes a gaping of the surfaces. 
This occurs at the trochlear groove of the head of the 
radius, which is partially filled up with exostosis. 

The preceding observations lead to the following 
conclusions: 

First. Continued excessive friction removes osse- 
ous tissue from the points of contact until complete 


Fig. 66.—Elbows of man and horse. 


‘asioy yo Moq)q—'49 “31d 


282 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


adaptation is accomplished and the friction is reduced 
toa normal minimum. Then a normal articular sur- 
face is produced. 

Second. Where the normal friction is wanting, 
and an inflammatory condition is maintained by a pull- 
ing stress on the investing synovial membrane, excess 
of osseous deposit is produced. 

Third. Stress on the articular ligaments and ten- 
dons stimulates osseous deposit at their insertions, 
which deposit may be continued into their substance. 
This is a pulling stress. 

These observations therefore show that osseous de- 
posit is produced by different forms of mechanical 
stimulus. 


EXPLANATION OF FIGURES 66 AND 67. 


1-5, Homo sapiens, \uxated elbow joint (one-half natural size); 1, luxated 
elbow joint, from within; 2, luxated elbow joint, from outer side; 3, humerus, 
posterior view of distal region; 4, humerus, distal view; 5, ulna and radius, 
anterior (superior) view; 6-11, bones of abnormal left elbow joint of horse 
(one-half natural size) ; 12, 13, normal bones of elbow joint of horse (one-half 
natural size); 6-12, humerus, distal views; 7-13, cubitus, proximal views; 8, 
humerus, external view of distal extremity; 9, humeral articulation of cubi- 
tus, from above; 10, cubitus, internal view; 11, cubitus, external view. Let- 
tering.—H, humerus; U, ulna; A, radius; C, coronoid process; C2, second 
(abnormal) coronoid process; O, olecranon; £x, entepicondyle; Zc, ectepi- 
condyle; £zo, entepicondylar exostosis ; Eco, ectepicondylar exostosis; Co, 
condylar exostosis; Cos, superior condylar exostosis; Coz, inferior condylar 
exostosis; 7, humeral facet ; X/, radial facet; U*, ulnar facet; Of, olecranar 
process of ulna; C%, coronoid process of ulna; Og, olecranar groove of hu- 
merus; 7c, trochlear crest of humerus; 7g, trochlear groove of humerus; 
Ehc, external humeral facet of coronoid process; /kc, internal humeral facet 
of coronoid process; sa, abnormal facet for coronoid process of ulna; 74, 
do. for internal roller of humerus; sc, do. for abnormal facet of humerus; 
1d, do, for internal border of radius; ze, do. for olecranar process of ulna; 
if, do. for trochlear crest of humerus; 2a, 24, 2c, exostoses of radius and ulna 
to fill vacuity between humerus and radius and ulna; 3a, abnormal crest 
which serves as a guide to the olecranar process of the humerus; 34, abnormal 
crest which serves as a guide to abnormal crest 72; 3c, exostosis extending 
head of radius inwards to equalize its width with inward luxation of humerus; 
gd, exostoses of external epicondyle of humerus, to equalize its width with 
outward luxation of radius; je, abnormal exostosis of insertion of external 
Aexor metacarpi muscle; 2/, 3g, abnormal crest at insertion of external ar- 
ticular ligament on olecranar process of ulna. 


KINETOGENESIS. 283 


&. Normal Articulations. 


The origin of condyles and their corresponding 
cotyli has been made the subject of investigation by 
several German anatomists. L. Fick! expressed the 
opinion that the concavo-convex surfaces were pro- 
duced by a wearing away of the surface which became 
concave, by the free action on it of the surface which 
became convex, the former being fixed, and the latter 
free. He found the conditions of muscular insertions 
to correspond with the conditions of fixity and free- 
dom required ; for the insertions are always nearer to 
the concave surface than to the convex surface. He 
constructed plaster models of joints, and by moving 
one on the other obtained a convex surface on the 
moving, and a concave surface on the fixed extremi- 
ties. These observations were confirmed by Henke,? 
but he very properly does not regard the result as due 
to wearing, but to the stimulation of metabolic action 
in the required directions. R. Fick? has confirmed 
these positions in an extended memoir, and recently 
Dr. E. Tornier has devoted a still more thorough re- 
search to the same subject.*- R. Fick applied his ob- 
servations to the question of the phylogeny of the ar- 
ticulations, but did not see in it proof of the operation 
of mechanical causes, but ascribed it to ‘inheritance 
and natural selection”? in accordance with the mean- 
ingless formula usual at the time he wrote. W. Roux,® 
however, in reviewing Fick’s article saw in the obser- 


1 Ueber die Ursachen der Knochenformen, Experimental - Untersuchung, 
1859, Géttingen, G. Wiegand. 

2 Anatomie und Mechanik der Gelenke, Leipsic, 1863, p. 57. 

8 Archiv fiir Anatomie und Physiologie, 1890, p. 391. 

4 Archiv fiir Entwickelungsmechanik, 1., 1894, p. 157. 

8 Biologisches Centralblatt, 1891, p. 188. 


284 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


vations of Fick proof of a direct mechanical cause of 
the structure. I have pointed out the phylogeny of 
the articulations in the Mammalia in various papers 
from 18771 to 1889,? and in 1881 I advanced the view 
that their successive evolution was due to impacts and 
strains (American Naturalist, July, 1881 ; Origin of the 
Fittest, p. 373). The opinion of Roux entirely sup- 
ports my position, and it is further established by the 
elaborate memoir of Tornier just cited. This author 
adopts the view that bone-development is controlled 
by Druck und Zug or impact and strain, and he adds 
some important considerations to those previously ad- 
vanced. He asserts that ‘‘in all existing Vertebrata 
true bones may appear as secondary structures, since 
all of these animals possess bands and threads of con- 
nective tissue which possess the latent capacity to be 
changed wholly or in part into cartilage.” Thus is 
accounted for the development of sesamoid bones in 
tendons, in which category is included the patella. 
Tornier also shows that the concave articular face 
(cotylus) is that to which the flexor and extensor mus- 
cular insertions are nearest, while the convex face 
(condyle) is the one most remote from the muscular 
insertions. 

It must be observed that Tornier adopts the lan- 
guage of the American Neo-Lamarckians in using the 
expression ‘‘impact and strain.” Impact and strain. 
are different modes of motion. ‘*Impact” implies 
pressure, while “‘strain ” implies a pulling stress, either 
direct or torsional. It is therefore alleged by Tornier, 
as it has been by myself, that opposite modes of mo- 


1 Report U.S. Geol. Survey W. of rooth Meridian, 1875, Vol. IV., p. 277- 
279. Proceeds. Amer. Philosoph. Soc., 1884, p. 44. 


2 Amer. Journal Morphology, 1889, p. 163. 


KINETOGENESTS. 285 


tion may produce metabolic changes in osseous tissue. 
For this reason it is possible to account for the length- 
ening of the limb-bones in heavy animals, as an effect 
of impact, while the astragalus of bats may have been 
elongated by a stretching strain. 


c. The Physiology of Bone Moulding. 


Dr. Koelliker has summarized the results of the 
observations made by himself and his predecessors on 
the processes of the growth and absorption of bone, 
which determine the forms of the elements of the skel- 
eton.! 

Bone is deposited through the agency of uninuclear 
cells, or osteoblasts, which may under peculiar condi- 
tions become enlarged and multicellular, when they 
are termed osteoclasts. These osteoclasts produce an 
absorption or destruction of the bone or dentine with 
which they are in contact, the bone or dentine being 
passive under the operation. How this is done is not 
known. Pieces of ivory which have been used to re- 
place bone removed by surgical methods, have been 
found to be both corroded by osteoclasts, and overlaid 
by layers of living bone by osteoblasts. 

In explanation of the causes which induce the for- 
mation and action of the osteoclasts, Koelliker remarks 
that: ‘«the totality of changes of the jaws during the 
development of teeth appears to show that it is pres- 
sure by the soft parts which causes the absorption of 
bone. One can admit in the case of the jaw that the 
dental sacs in process of growth produce by their en- 
largement a state of irritation in the layer of osteo- 
blasts which originally border the alveolar edge, and 


1“ The Normal and Typical Absorption of Bones and Teeth," Verhandi. 
der Phys. Med. Ges. von Wiirzburg, I1., IIL, 1872. 


286 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


that in consequence of this irritation the cellules trans- 
form themselves into osteoclasts, and acquire a new 
power, that of absorbing bone. The function will 
cease as soon as the teeth are formed, by the termina- 
tion of pressure, and then the formative action of the 
cellules adjacent to the bone will repair it as a conse- 
quence of a retransformation of these elements into 
osteoblasts. 

‘‘T will not push further this first attempt at an 
explanation of the normal absorption of bone, but I 
content myself with observing, that in any case, pres- 
sure exercised by the soft parts counts for much in this 
phenomenon. Who does not remember in the face of 
these facts, numerous cases of pathological absorption 
of bone due to aneurisms, tumors, and hypertrophied 
organs? Who will not admit the great effect of the 
disappearance or arrest of development of organs on 
the size of their osseous surroundings; as Fick, for- 
merly professor of anatomy at Marburg, has shown to 
take place in the orbit after the extirpation of the eye? 
It is possible to go a step further in the proposition, 
that external pressure has much to do with absorp- 
tion. Thus the growth of the brain and spinal cord 
produce the resorption seen in the interior of the skull 
and of the spinal canal; that of the eye and of the 
nasal mucosa, and of the cranial vessels and nerves, 
have resulted in the enlargement of their cavities ; and 
in the case of foramina, in their wider expansion... . 
The medullary cavities of bones are produced in the 
process of growth by the corrosive activity of osteo- 
clasts.” 

It is then pressure which produces the excavations 
which form new cotyli in the construction of new ar- 
ticulations due to dislocations. By such excavations 


KINETOGENESIS. 287 


elevated portions remain adjacent to them. Other 
elevations, as already described, are due to deposit of 
bone stimulated by the absence of accustomed pres- 
sure, as in the filling up of the old ulnar cotylus in 
the human subject above described. Other elevations 
or osseous deposits such as occur at muscular and 
ligamentous insertions appear to follow a pulling stress. 

Many other examples of the abnormal production 
of articulations might be cited, but the above are suf- 
ficient to show the plasticity of osseous tissue. It is 
also evident that if such results follow the stimulus of 
the parts during a short period of months or years, 
the continuance of the appropriate mechanical stresses 
through geologic ages must have been quite sufficient 
to produce all the characters which we observe in the 
articulations of the vertebrate skeleton. 

I will now present the inferences which may be de- 
rived from consideration of the facts hitherto presented 
in this chapter. We have not been witnesses of the 
‘process of evolution, yet we believe that it has been 
in active operation. We have not been able to observe 
its modus operandi, but we may safely infer what it 
has been from the facts which are before us. Kineto- 
genesis having been observed in both the soft sarcode 
(muscle) and in the hard parts of animals, the law of 
uniformity obliges us to believe that similar changes 
have taken place in past ages whenever the necessity 
arose, and the energy at nature’s disposal was suff- 
cient. 


ll. MOULDING OF THE ARTICULATIONS. 
a. The Limb Articulations. 


This part of the subject has the advantage of many 
facts of paleontology in our possession. We have 


288 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


now discovered the outlines of the phylogeny of many 
mammalian types, and many detailed histories of spe- 


cial lines of descent are known. 


Our knowledge is 


most complete in the unguiculate and ungulate pla-: 


Fig. 68.—Periptychus rhabdodon 
Cope, a condylarthrous genus of the 
Puerco epoch of New Mexico; poste- 
rior foot, one-half natural size, show- 
ing pentadactyle plantigrade foot with- 
out groove of astragalus, as in the 
probable ancestor of the Diplarthra. 
From Scott and Osborn. 


centals, while it is least 
as regards the Mutilata, 
and the implacentals. We 
have excellent series of 
skeletal parts, and I have 
given the successional 
modifications of some of 
them on page 139. 

In the first place, I 
will select an illustration 
of the effects of use on 
the articulations of the 
limbs and feet of the 
Mammalia. I take first 
the ankle and wrist-joints. 
In the ruminating animals 
(ox, deer, camel, etc.) and 
in the horse, among other 
living. species, the ankle- 
joint is a very strong one, 
and yet admits of an ex- 
tensive bending of the foot 
on the leg. It is a treble 
tongue-and-groove joint ; 
that is, two keels of the 


first bone of the foot, the astragalus, fit into two grooves 
of the lower bone of the leg, the tibia, while between 
these grooves a keel of the tibia descends to fill a cor- 


responding groove of the astragalus. 


Such a joint as 


this can be broken by force, but it cannot be dislocated. 


KINETOGENESTS. 289 


Now, in all bones the external walls are composed of 
dense material, while the centers are spongy and com- 
paratively soft. The first bone of the foot (astragalus) 
is narrower, from side to side, than the tibia which 
rests upon it. Hence the edges of the dense side-walls 
of the astragalus fall within the edges of the dense 
side-walls of the tibia, and they have pressed into the 
more yielding material that forms the end of the bone, 
and causing bone absorption, pushed it upward, thus 
allowing the side-walls of the tibia to embrace the 
side-walls of the astragalus. Now, this is exactly what 
would happen if: two pieces of plastic dead material, 
similarly placed, should be subjected to a continual 
pounding in the direction of their length. And in 
view of the facts already cited we cannot ascribe any 
other immediate origin to it in the living material. 
The same active cause that produced the two 
grooves of the lower end of the leg produced the groove 
of the middle of the upper end of the astragalus. Here 
we have the yielding lower end of the tibia resting on 
the equally spongy material of the middle of the as- 
tragalus. There is here no question of the hard ma- 
terial cutting into soft, but simply the result of con- 
tinuous concussion. The consequence of concussion 
would be to cause the yielding faces of the bones to 
bend downward in the direction of gravity, or to re- 
main in their primitive position while the edges of the 
astragalus were pushed into the tibia. If they were 
flat at first they would begin to hollow downward, and 
a tongue above and groove below would be the result. 
And that is exactly what has happened. This inclu- 
sion of the astragalus in the tibia does not occur in the 
reptiles, but appears first in the Mammalia, which de- 
scended from them. See Figs. 68-69. I have shown 


290 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


that without exception, every line of Mammalia com- 
menced with types with an astragalus which is flat in 
the transverse direction, or without median groove. 


} 
ii 
i ! 


: 


Hh ® 
HI 


Fig. 69. Fig. 70. 
Fig. 69.—Hind foot of primitive cameloid Poébrotherdum labiatum Cope, 


showing grooved astragalus and first toe-bones without keel in front at lower 
end. (From Colorado.) 


Fig. 70.—Hind foot of three-toed horse (Prothippus sezunctus Cope) (from 
Colorado), showing grooved astragalus, and trace of keel on front of lower 
end of first bone of middle toe. 


KINETOGENESIS, 291 


From early Tertiary times to the present day, we can 
trace the gradual development of this groove in all 


the lines which have acquired it. 
became first a little concave ; 
the concavity gradually became 
deeper, and finally formed a well- 
marked groove. 

The history of the wrist-joint is 
similar. The surface of the fore- 
arm bones which joins the fore- 
foot is in the early Tertiary Mam- 
malia uniformly concave. In the 
ruminating mammals it is divided 
into three fosse, which are sep- 
arated by sharp keels. These fos- 
se correspond with the three 
bones which form the first row of 
the carpus or palm. The keels 
correspond to the free sutures be- 
tween them. The process has been 
evidently similar to that which has 
been described above as produc- 
ing the side-grooves in the end of 
the tibia. The dense walls of the 
sides of the three bones imping- 
ing endwise on the broad yielding 
surface of the fore-arm (radius) 
have gradually, under the influence 
of countless blows, impressed 
themselves into the latter. On 
the contrary, the surface above 


The upper surface 


Fig. 71.— United first 
bones of two middle toes 
of deer-antelope (Cosoryx 
Jurcatus Leidy), showing 
extension of keel on front 
of lower end. (From Mio- 
cene of Nebraska.* 


the weaker lines between the bones not having been 
subject to the impact of the blows, and influenced by 


292 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


*(uo14y 


*(as10y pao}-aa1y3 auaD0aN JaddqQ) snddiyioig ‘€ 


‘(JaweD susd00}sI[q) SnosTUaMIO|OH ‘F 


-Ie[ApuoD 9usa00q) snpooeusyg ‘z 


“We 9103 Jo AMWA9INXS [eISIp ye yuTOl-ystIAA—"2Z “BLT 


*(9ua00q JUOpoaID) eu@edyoeg ‘1 


gravity, remains to fill the 
grooves, and to form the 
keels which we observe. (See 
Fig. 72.) 

There is another striking 
instance of the same kind in 
the feet of Mammalia’; that 
is, in the development of the 
keels and grooves which ap- 
pear at the articulation of the 
first set of bones of the toes 
(metapodials) with the bones 
of the second set (phalanges). 
These keels first appear on 
the posterior side of the end 
of the first set of bones, pro- 
jecting from between two 
flexor tendons. These ten- 
dons, in many mammals, con- 
tain two small.bones, one on 
each side, each of which acts 
like the knee-pan, and resem- 
bles it in miniature, which are 
called sesamoid bones. These 
tendons and bones exercise 
a constant pressure on each 
side of the middle line, when 
the animal is running or 
walking, and this pressure, 
together with the concussion 
with the ground, appears to 
have permitted the protru- 
sion of the middle line in the 
form of a keel, while the 


KINETOGENESIS. 293 


lateral parts have been supported and even com- 
pressed. The reptilian ancestors of the mammals do 
not possess: these keels. 

Now, I have shown that the lines of mammalian 
descent displayed by paleontology are characterized, 
among other things, in most instances, by the gradual 
elevation of the heel above the ground, so that the 
animal walks on its toes. It is evident that in this 
case the concussion of running is applied more directly 
on the ends of the bones of the foot than is the case 
where the foot is horizontal. As a consequence we 
find the keel is developed farther forward in such ani- 
mals. But in many of these, as the Carnivora, hip- 
popotamus, and the camels, there is developed under 
the toes a soft cushion, which greatly reduces this con- 
cussion. In these species the keel makes no further 
progress. In other lines, as those of the horse, the 
pig, and of the ruminants, the ends of the toes are ap- 
plied to the ground, and are covered with larger hoofs, 
which surround the toe, and the cushion is nearly or 
quite dispensed with. These animals are especially 
distinguished by the fact that their metapodial keels 
extend entirely round the end of the bone, dividing 
the front, as well as the end and back (Fig. 71); since 
the front of the metapodial is out of the reach of the 
sesamoid bones, its keel would seem to be a mould- 
ing to the groove of the first phalange, which is itself 
moulded by the middle and posterior part of the meta- 
podial keel (Wortman.) 

A third and similar example is furnished by the 
elbow-joint of the Quadrumana and Diplarthra. In 
the lower’ Mammalia, including the Carnivora (Fig. 
73), the distal end of the humerus presents a subme- 
dian groove, which receives the ulna, and on the inner 


294 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


side of it, a more or less convex, surface, which is ap- 
plied. to the head of the radius. The coronoid process 
of the ulna is narrow, and its dense bounding walls 
impinge on the broad face of the humeral condyle in 
flexion and extension, and transfers to it the force of 
impact when the foot strikes the ground. In either 
case strong pressure has been brought to bear on 
the humeral condyle, and it has 
yielded to the denser body of the 
ulna, thus forming the groove in 
question. In such Mammalia the 
effect of impact of the limb on the 
ground has been to impress the 
head of the radius on the humeral 
condyle upwards. The dense 
edges of the former have im- 
pressed themselves on the latter, 
while the unsupported middle 
portion has yielded in the direc- 
tion of gravity, and the result is 
what we find, i. e., a cup-shaped 
surface of the head of the radius, 
7 and a convexity of the humeral 
clit: —Bhowicint ot condyle adapted to it. 
hyena) seen from behind ; #, Among specializations of the 
humerus; 7, radius; ~, ulna. soe : 
grease elbow-joint, I call attention to 
two. In Quadrumana the head of 
the radius, probably owing to continued supination of 
the manus, occupies a position at the external side of 
the coronoid process of the ulna, and impinges on the 
outer part of the condyle of the humerus. The con- 
cavity of its head, and the convexity of the humeral 
condyle, are visible as before, but a prominent tongue 
or keel, which has been called the intertrochlear crest, 


KINETOGENESIS. 295 


separates the ulnar and radial surfaces of the humerus 
(Fig. 74). This keel occupies the groove or interval 
which separates the head of the radius from the coro- 
noid process of the ulna. It is plain that we have here 
another tongue and groove-joint, produced by the mu- 
tual adaptation of parts under strain, pressure, and 
impact. The other extreme of elbow-joint is found in 
that of the diplarthrous Ungulata (Fig. 75). Here the 
head of the radius, while retaining its normal position 
on the inner side of the fore-arm, is extended to the 
external side of the ulna and 
even beyond it, adapting it- 
self to the entire width of the 
humeral condyles. The same 
structure is found in the spe- 
cialized forms of both series 
of Diplarthra, the Perisso- 
dactyla and Artiodactyla. 
This expansion of the head of 
the radius appears to be in di- 
rect relation to the duration 
through long geologic ages _Fig. 74.—Elbow-joint of chim- 
of the impacts which have ?2"2°¢ from behind. 

affected the limbs of these, the swiftest of the Mam- 
malia. That the head of the radius should be spread 
so as to fit the entire surface of the humerus, under all 
circumstances, seems to be a mechanical necessity. 
But in addition to this we find a tongue-and-groove 
adaptation, in which the crest (which I have called the 
trochlear crest) articulates with a groove in the head 
of the radius. The internal articulation of the humerus 
with the radius has the usual form, convex and con- 
cave distad. The trochlear crest marks the external 
border of the olecranar groove of the humerus. But 


296 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


the external part of the humeral condyles is converted 
into aroller which is set off from the trochlear crest by 
the abrupt contraction of its diameter ; while the cor- 
responding part of the head of the radius projects to 
fit it exactly. 

A probable explanation of the form of this roller 
may be derived from a consideration of the almost 
identical structure of the meta- 
‘podio-phalangeal articulation of 
the Artiodactyla. -The internal 
and external sides of the distal 
metapodial condyles are not sim- 
ilar, the external being more 
strongly impressed than the in- 
ternal (Fig. 77D). This is simply 
due to the unequal pressure ex- 
erted on the two extremities of 
the condyle by the phalanges, 
owing to the divergent direction 
of the digits when serving asa 
support. In the distal end ‘of 
the humerus the same effect is 

Hace ameoaeak Seems the external part of the con- 
Cervus elaphus (red deer) dyle nearly resembling the corre- 
sonnel sponding part of the metapodial 
bones. This is traceable to the same cause, viz.: the 
divergent position assumed by the fore arm on the hu- 
merus, when the weight is supported on one fore leg 
only. This brings the line of pressure through the ex- 
ternal part of both the head of the radius and the hu- 
meral condyle (Fig. 77A). That the higher ungulates 
are ‘‘knock-elbowed” may be readily observed by 
watching their gaits (Fig. 76). 


KINETOGENESTS. 297 


A distinct consequence of combined impact and 
strain is seen in the evolution of the carpus and tarsus 
of the Diplarthra. In primitive Mammalia, as in 
most Unguiculata, the 
bones’ of the carpus 
and tarsus succeed 
each other in such a 
way that the principal 
lines of separation be- 
tween the elements 
coincide in the two 
rows, thus producing 
a linear relation be- 
tween the former. In 
the Diplarthra, on the 
other hand, the ele- 
ments of the two rows 
alternate with each 
other so as to produce 
a strong interlocking. 
I have shown that in 
the primitive Ungu- 
lata, the Taxeopoda, 
the linear arrange- 
ment is observed, 
while in three orders 
of ungulates, the Pro- Fig. 76.—Cervus canadensis in motion: 
boscidea, Toxodontia, from Muybridge’s Aximal Motion ; showing 
and Amblypoda, there In¢hmckelton" psion of the freien 
are various degrees of 
alternation intermediate between the linear type of the 
Taxeopoda and the completely interlocked condition 
of the Diplarthra. It has been already pointed out in 
the chapter on phylogeny that the taxeopodous type 


298 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


of foot preceded the diplarthrous in time. Besides the 
alternation mentioned, it is quite general in both types 
for the metapodial bones to possess a facet for con- 
tact with that element of the carpus and tarsus next 
exterior to the one to which they have their principal 
articulation. From these facts it is evident that the 
bones of the second carpal and tarsal rows have, in 


Fig. 77.—Cervus elaphus; A, B, C, humero-radial articulation; A and B, 
with the radius in position; C, with radius twisted; D, Z, metatarsophalan- 
geal articulation; D, front; Z, distal view, twisted. 


the process of evolution, assumed a position interior 
-to their primitive position, with reference to the first 
row proximad to them, and the metapodials distad to 
them. The cause of this shifting of position is to be 
found in the movements of the limbs in progression, 
and especially in rapid progression (Fig. 78). 

If we observe the movements of the limbs ina 


KINETOGENESIS. 299 


diplarthrous ungulate, we shall see that as the foot is 
planted on the ground the prominent flexures of the 
limbs, the elbow and gambril joints, are turned in- 


at | Radius | ~ B Radius Ulna 


Scaphoid [=] Cuneif. | Scaphoid | cuneif 
afer [><] [22 ][ oo } srofe| arene a> ee 


Pelt, “weer 


Pollex Indeg Med? Ann? Minim? Index Med? Ann’ 


Fig. 78.—Diagram of carpus of a Taxeopod (A) and (8) of a diplarthrous 
ungulate. From Osborn. 


wards, so that the limb, were it free from the ground, 
would be twisted or rotated on its long axis from 
within, forwards and outwards. As the foot rests on 


Fig. 79.—Raccoon pacing, showing right fore foot just before recovery. 
From H. Allen. 
the ground, the limb experiences a torsion strain in 
the directions mentioned. This throws the weight on 
the interior bones of the lower legs, the radius and the 
tibia. Thus these bones have acquired a great supe- 


. 


300 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


riority in dimensions over the external elements (ulna 
and fibula) in all the Diplarthra. The bones of the 
inner side of the first carpal and tarsal rows have thus 
transmitted an ever-increasing share of the impact, as 
the radius and tibia have developed, and have grown 


se. (U.S Gu 
make 
( Va) 


Fig. 80. Fig. 81. 


Fig. 80.—RAznocerus unicornis carpus. Arrow ending in P, line of impact 
in plantation; do. ending in X, line of strain in recover. 


Fig. 81.—Z£guus cabalius fore foot. Sc, scaphoid; Z, lunar; Cz, cunei- 
form; 7Yoz, trapezium and trapezoideo; Um, unciform; mg., magnum. 
with their growth at the expense of the external ele- 
ments, the cuneiform in the carpus, and the calcaneum 
in the tarsus, which have become very narrow elements 
in the higher Diplarthra. As the pressure has been 
obliquely from within outwards, the growth of the 
proximal elements, the scaphoid and lunar in front, 


From Brehm. 


Fig. 82.--Gazella dorcas, gazelle. 


302 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


and the astragalus behind, has been in the same direc- 
tion. It has been shown by Dr. H. Allen that just 
before the recover of the foot, the latter is directed 
outwards from a line parallel with the axis of the body, 
so that the weight falls on the inner part of the sole of 
the former. This naturally causes the bones of the 
foot to press inwards on the heads of the metapodials, 
so that the latter tend to grow outwards on the second 
tarsal row. In this way were produced the facets on 
the external side of the heads of the metapodials. 
Thus is accounted for, on simple mechanical princi- 
ples, the phenomenon of carpal and tarsal displace- 
ment exhibited in its highest development, by the Dip- 
larthra. 

It is significant that diplarthrism has not appeared 
in mammals which possess an elastic pad of connec- 
tive tissue on the soles, as in Unguiculata generally, 
and,especially in the Carnivora. Diplarthrism is pres- 
ent in the camels, which have a pad, but I have shown 
that this pad did not appear until a comparatively late 
geologic epoch, and long after diplarthrism had be- 
come established in the camels’ ancestors, the Poébro- 
theriidz. 

The faceting of the head of the astragalus as the 
result of impacts, is seen on comparison of the astra- 
gali of Phenacodus and Hyracotherium in Ungulata 
(Figs. 33-35), and of Dissacus and Mesonyx among 
the Creodonta. In this last genus we have the only 
faceted astragalus among carnivorous mammals, but 
this genus is at the same time subungulate. 


b. The Forms of Vertebral Centra. 


The mutual articulations of the vertebral column 
are those of the centra and of the zygapophyses. Many 


KINETOGENESIS. 303 


important modifications in these articulations are to be 
seen in Vertebrata, the Reptilia presenting the great- 
est variety, excepting in the zygapophyses, which are 
tolerably uniform in that class. In the Mammalia. 
modifications of the central articulations are not more 
striking than are those of the zygapophyses. 

The forms of central articulation are four, viz.: the 
amphiccelous, the ball-and-socket, the plane, and the 
saddle-shaped. The first type is only seen in a very 
imperfect degree in Mammalia and in but very few 
vertebrz, where it is indeed but a modification of the 
plane. The ball-and-socket is chiefly found in the 
neck of the long-necked Mammalia, as the higher 
Diplarthra, and to a less degree in their lumbar re- 
gions, while the dorsal vertebre present an approach 
to the same type in the same groups. The saddle- 
shaped centrum is only found in Mammalia in the 
necks of certain genera of monkeys. The majority of 
Mammalia present the plane articulation of all the ver- 
tebral centra. 

In Mammalia in which movement of the vertebre 
on each other has become impossible, the centra co- 
éssify, as for instance in the sacrum. In this region the 
number of vertebrz coésified is directly as the length 
of the iliac bone, which supports and holds them im- 
movable. Such is their condition throughout the 
dorsal region in the extinct Edentata of the family 
Glyptodontide, where the carapace is, as in the tor- 
toises, inflexible, and which therefore limits the possi- 
bility of motion of the vertebral column. Another 
illustration is seen in the necks of the balenid Ceta- 
cea, and to some degree in the Delphinide and Physe- 
teride. The lack of present mobility of this part of 
the column is due to its extreme abbreviation, a char- 


304 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


acter which has been gradually developing during Ce- 
nozoic time ; since the earliest Cetacea had consider- 
ably longer necks than the later ones, and had their 
vertebral centra distinct. It appears to me probable 
that the shortening was the result of disuse. This 
disuse would arise from gradually increasing powers 
of locomotion through the water, a progress, which, 
judging from the character of the limbs of the Zeuglo- 
don, was evidently made after the time of the Eocene. 
The increase of speed would enable the animal to over- 
take and capture its prey, without the necessity of 
using a long prehensile neck in seizing it in the pur- 
suit. 

The ball-and-socket articulation of the vertebre is 
well known to be the predominant condition in the 
Reptilia, and the fact that it is necessarily associated 
with the flexibility of the column is equally well under- 
stood. The flexibility is directly as the weakness of 
the limbs, for in the large and long-limbed terrestrial 
Reptilia of the order Dinosauria, the vertebral articu- 
lations of the dorsal region, at least, are plane. That 
it is chiefly confined to, and best developed in, the 
most flexible regions, i. e., the cervical and lumbar, of 
the column of the Mammalia, also shows this neces- 
sary connection. There can be no doubt but that the 
ball-and-socket vertebral articulation has been pro- 
duced by constant flexures of the column in all direc- 
tions, as has been suggested by Marsh. 


lll. INCREASE OF SIZE THROUGH USE. 


Under this head I enumerate examples where the 
mechanical causes in operation are less self-evident 
than those included under the preceding section. They 


KINETOGENESIS, 305 


are, however, probably due to the same process, viz., 
impact and strain. 


a. The Proportions of the Limbs and of Their Segments. 


The length of the legs of terrestrial Mammalia has 
increased with the passage of time. The inferior types 
of Mammalia now existing, as Marsupialia, Glires, 
Insectivora, Edentata, have short legs, with a few 
cases of extreme specialization as exceptions, such as 
kangaroos, rabbits, and jerboas (hind legs only), the 
Dolichotis patachonica, the Rhynchocyonide, and the 
sloths. In the orders which stand at the summit of 
the series, as the Diplarthra, Proboscidia, Carnivora, 
and Anthropomorpha, the legs are much increased in 
length, and this is especially marked in certain forms 
which stand in all respects at the summit of their re- 
spective orders. Thus in Diplarthra, the deer, ante- 
lope, and horse are distinguished for length of limb; 
in the Proboscidia, the elephant; in the Carnivora, 
the large cats and hyenas; in the Anthropomorpha, 
the fore limbs are long in all, the hind ones especially 
so in man. 

The cause of this elongation is apparently use. It 
is the hind legs that are elongated in a straight line in 
animals that walk on them, as man; and both, in those 
that walk on both, as the elephant. In animals that 
leap with the hind legs these are still more elongated, 
and are folded when at rest, and rapidly extended 
when in motion. In animals that climb with the fore 
legs, these are elongated, as in the Anthropomorpha, 
except man. In those that climb with all fours, all 
are elongate, as in the sloths. It must be remembered 
that these elongations are the sum of increments added 
one to the other through long ages of use in geologic 


. 


306 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


time. The mechanical character of that use has not 
been identical. It is of two principal kinds, viz.: im- 
pact and longitudinal strain. These two forms of en- 
ergy move in directions opposite to each other; the 
one as compression in the direction of the length of 
the bone; the other, as a stretching in the direction of 
the length of the bone. Both processes alike appear 
to have stimulated growth in the direction of the length 
of the bone. 

The increase in the length of the legs has not been 
always due to increase in length of the same segment. 
In a majority of the higher mammals, the increase has 
been principally in the foot, and especially in the meta- 
podials and digits, producing digitigradism. In the 
forms which have remained plantigrade, the femur 
(Proboscidia), or femur and tibia (Quadrumana), or 
all three segments (Tarsius), have been the seat of the 
elongation. We can again trace these especial elonga- 
tions to special uses. In animals which leap, the dis- 
tal segments of the limbs are elongated; in those 
which do not leap, but which merely run or walk, it is 
the proximal segments of the limbs which are elon-: 
gated. 

Animals which run by leaping are divided into 
those which run and leap with all fours, as Diplarthra ; 
and those which run and leap with the posterior limbs 
only, as the jerboas and kangaroos. In both types, 
the distal segments of the hind limb are elongated, and 
in the Diplarthra, those of the fore limb also. 

Animals which do not leap in progression (ele- 
phants, Quadrumana, bears) are always plantigrade, 
and have very short feet, but elongate thighs, and, 
mostly, tibias. 


These facts show that those elements which receive 
e 


KINETOGENESIS. 307 


the principal impact in progression are those which 
increase in length. In digitigrade animals it is the feet 
which receive the impact of the repeated blows on the 


Fig. 83.—Pes of (A) Merychocherus montanus from Scott; (B) Bos taurus, 
much reduced. Ca, Calcaneum; As, Astragalus; Va, Navicular; Med, Na- 
viculocuboid ; Cz, Mec, Ecto-mesocuneiform ; /¢, Metatarsals (cannon bone); 
Enc, Entocuneiform. 
earth while in progression, while supporting the weight 
of the body at every stage of the process. In planti- 
grade animals it is the soles of the feet, and the bones 
of the leg in line with them. which receive the impact, 


308 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Fig. 84.—Anterior feet of primitive Ungulata, reduced. A, Phenacodus primevus. B, Coryphodon elephantopus, 
Hyracotherium venticolum, 


G 


KINETOGENESIS. 309 


while the feet beyond this point receive none, and do 
not support the body, except very partially at the mo- 
ment of leaving the earth. 


b. The Number of the Digits. 


The reduction in the number of toes is supposed to 
be due to the elongation of those which receive the 
greater number of strains and impacts in rapid pro- 
gression, and the complementary loss of material 
available for the growth of those not subject to this 
stimulus. This is rendered probable from the fact 
that the types with reduced digits are dwellers on dry 
land, and those that have more numerous digits are 
inhabitants of swamps and mud, or are more or less 
aquatic. That this inequality is due to these mechan- 
ical causes is still further indicated by the fact that in 
those forms where the soles are thickly padded (Car- 
nivora, Proboscidia) the reduction has either not taken 
place, or has made little progress, amounting to the 
loss of only one digit. (An apparent exception in the 
case of the camels will be mentioned later.) A still 
more important body of evidence which shows that 
the inequality in size and number of digits is due to 
impacts and strains unequally distributed, has been 
brought forward by Ryder. He points out that defi- 
nite results are to be observed in those limbs of a given 
type of animal which experience correspondingly defi- 
nite influences; while in the limbs where the strains 
are equal, the modifications do not appear. Examples 
of this kind are to be found in the unguiculate Mam- 
malia and in the Marsupialia. Thus in the jerboas 
which use the hind limbs in leaping, these only dis- 
play reduced digits, the fore limbs remaining of prim- 


310 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


itive character. The same is true of the kangaroos. 
In digging genera, the fore limbs experience the modi- 


Ni 
Hi | 
Hi 


ai rh } 
i 


Fig. 85.—A, Right posterior foot of Prothippus sejunctus Cope, from Colo- 
rado, about one-half natural size. From U.S. Geological Survey of Territo- 
ries, F. V. Hayden, IV. 8, Right posterior foot of Poébrotherium labiatum 
Cope, from Colorado, three-fifths natural size. From Hayden's Report, IV., 
Plate CXV. 


fications, while the hind limbs are more normal, as in 
Chrysochloris and various Edentata. 


KINETOGENESIS. 3Ir 


Ryder sums up the evidence in two propositions, 
as follows :1 

«I. The mechanical force used in locomotion dur- 
ing the struggle for existence has determined the digits 
which are now performing the pedal function in such 
groups as have undergone digital reduction. 

“IT. When the distribution of mechanical strains 
has been alike upon all the digits of the manus or of 
the pes, or both, they have remained in a state of ap- 
proximate uniformity of development.” 

The application of the impact, or strain, or both, 
in progression, is easily understood. In recover (see 
Pp. 299), the leg is bent on the foot as it rests on the 
ground, and those digits which then leave the ground 
last, sustain greater strain than those which leave it 
sooner. In replacing the foot on the ground (planta- 
tion), those digits which strike it first experience greater 
force of impact than those which strike it later. Sup- 
posing the five primitive digits to have been of equal 
length, the distribution of the impact and of the strain 
will depend on the angle at which the foot is directed - 
with reference to the direction of motion. If the feet 
are pointed forwards, the middle digits will experience 
strain and impact ; if outwards, the inner digits bear 
the weight; if inwards, the external digits receive it. 

Observation on five-toed plantigrade: mammals 
shows that their feet are turned neither inwards nor 
outwards in progression, but straight forwards. It is 
probable that the primitive Mammalia moved in the 
same manner. ‘This is also to be inferred from the 
fact that they were plantigrade, so that the leverage 
transversely in or out which results from the elevated 
heel of the digitigrade leg was very much less in them. 


lAmerican Naturalist, 1877, p. 607. 


312 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


In progression of this type, the middle digits of course 
leave the ground last and strike it first. Thus the 
middle toes have been stimulated at the expense of the 
lateral ones, so that in the Diplarthra, either the mid- 


ssmiztay ‘S Ssnz0jzay ‘b sens‘ ‘snuvjog 


-odpy ‘t ‘snuevjogodgery ‘t ‘AYSABTEMOY UIOIJ | paonpal YONur ‘e[AjOepory Jo snueW—'9g “BIg 


dle one (Perissodactyla) alone remains, or the middle 
two (Artiodactyla). In the kangaroos the external toes 
have been chiefly used, so that the fourth and fifth 
digits have been principally developed. In man, who 


KINETOGENESIS. 313 


now turns his feet out when using them as bases of re- 
sistance to muscular labor, the inner digit has become 
most robust. The mechanical history of the human 
great toe is however yet unknown. 

As regards the equal development of the third and 
fourth digits in the Artiodactyla, as distinguished from 
the development of the middle digit of the Perisso- 
dactyla, I have advanced the following hypothesis. I 
have supposed that the primitive members of this for- 
mer division sprung from pentadactyl plantigrades who 
dwelt in swamps and walked on very soft ground. 
‘The effect of progression in mud is to spread the toes 
equally in all directions and on each side of the me- 
dian line. Such feet remain in the mud-loving hippo- 
potamus, and to a lesser degree in the true pigs. From 
such ancestry the cloven-footed Diplarthra derived 
their characters. The Hyracotheriinz, the ancestors 
of all Perissodactyla, display on the other hand evi- 
dence of a life on harder ground, especially in the pos- 
terior foot, where articulations are already rigidly de- 
fined, and the third digit is longer than the others. 
Some of their descendants love swamps, as one or two 
species of tapirs and rhinoceroses, but others live on 
the dryest ground, as the Andean tapir and the African 
rhinoceros. As to the highest members of both even 
and odd toed groups, the Bovide and the Equida, 
their habitat is in the vast majority of cases the dry 
land (Figs. 80-81). 

Continued and excessive prehensile strain with 
weight on the longest digits, must be assigned as the 
cause of the especial elongation; and disuse as the 
cause of the loss of the external and shorter digits, of 
the sloths; so that there remain but two and three 
(Choleepus and Bradypus), and in the climbing ant- 


314 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


eater (Cycloturus) but one principal toe and two rudi- 
ments. The excessive strain and impact experienced 
by certain digits in leaping, accounts for the digital 
reduction in the hinder foot of the kangaroos and jer- 
boas, precisely as in the perissodactyle ungulates. 


c. The Horns. 


Horns are developed in Mammalia and other Ver- 
tebrata on similar parts of the skull, principally on the 
posterior lateral angles, as in various Batrachia, Rep- 
tilia, and Mammalia, and on the nose, as in a few 
Mammalia and several reptiles, recent and extinct. 
These parts are the ones which are especially brought 
into contact with resisting bodies; the nose in pushing 
a path or way for the head and body; the lateral occi- 
pital region in defence and assault, when the sensitive 
nose and eyes are protected: by being held near the 
ground. In the latter position the posterolateral an- 
gles, when present, receive more frequent collision 
with, and vigorous stimulation from, a body attacked 
or resisted, and in accordance with the observed re- 
sults of irritation on dermal and osseous tissues, addi- 
tional matter has been deposited. In Lacertilia and 
Batrachia Salientia there are distinct posteroexternal 
cranial angles; in Batrachia Urodela such angles are 
less prominent. In unguiculate Mammalia and in all 
others with a sagittal crest there are no such angles; 
hence this type of skull has never developed posterior 
horns. The rhinoceros has developed the dermal 
nasal horn, and the Elasmotherium, a median osseous 
horn, since posterolateral angles of the skull are want- 
ing or close together. Inthe Dinocerata and the Ar- 
tiodactyla, where the temporal crests are lateral, leav- 
ing a wide fronto-parietal plane with posterior lateral 


KINETOGENESIS. 315 


angles, horns are developed. In members of both 
groups horns have been developed over the orbits also 
(Fig. 87), and in the Dinocerata on the extremities of 
the nasal bones as well. These growths are all on 
parts which are subject to especial irritation by contact 
with other bodies, animate and inanimate. 

Among Artiodactyla, the deer (Cervide) are espe- 
cially distinguished by the periodical shedding of all 
but the bases of their horns. Extinct forms found in 
the Upper Miocene of the United States and France 
(the Loup Fork series) furnish the explanation of the 
origin of this remarkable peculiarity. In the genus 
Cosoryx we find that the horns may or may not pos- 
sess a burr near the base of the beam, like that of the 
deer; the same species being indifferently with it or 
without it. This observation has been made on three 
species,—the C. necatus, C. furcatus and C. ramosus. 
The following explanation of these facts has been pro- 
posed by myself.1 “From the facts of the case the 
following inference may be derived, premising that it 
is very probable that a genus allied to the present one 
has given origin to the family of the deer. It is ob- 
vious that the horns of (Dicrocerus) Cosoryx did not 
possess a horny sheath as in the Bovide, from the fact 
of their being branched. As the sheath grows by ad- 
dition at the base, the presence of branches which 
necessarily obstruct its forward movement, would be 
fatal to the process. There is much to be said in favor 
of the view that the horns were covered with an integu- 
ment, probably furred, as in the giraffe and young 
stage in the deer. Thus there are grooves in the sur- 
face of the beam for superficial blood-vessels, which 


1U.S. G. G. Survey West of the rooth Mer., G. M. Wheeler: IV., Paleon- 
tology, 1877, Pp. 348. 


316 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


must have been protected by skin (I do not observe 
these grooves on the beam of C. ¢eres). The retention 
of the broken extremity of an antler, so as to be re- 
united, as described (Fig. 87, C), could not have been 
accomplished without an integument. The presence 
of the burrs cannot be 
accounted for on any 
other supposition, as 
there are no foramina 
to give exit to nutrient 
vessels at’ the point 
where they exist; the 
irregularity of those 
positions also forbids 
the latter idea, and 
adds to the probability 
that the arteries which 
furnished the deposit of 
phosphate of lime were 
contained in a super- 
ficial dermal coating. 
The supposition is also 
strengthened by the fact 
that the only existing 
ruminants (the giraffes) 


Fig. 87.—A, B, Cosoryx necatus Leidy; 
A, without, &, with, burr on antler; C, D, 
Cosoryx ramosus Cope; C, antler broken With permanent horns 


and reunited; D, beam with burr; one- : 
half natural size; original; from Report without horny sheaths 


U.S. Gov. Geol, Expl. rooth Mer, G.M» have them covered with 
eee hairy skin. 

‘“‘It appears that in the antlers of the Cosoryx the 
deposit of a burr was immediately associated with the 
death of the portion of the horn beyond it, so that it 
disintegrated and disappeared. This was not the case 
with the beam in the specimens observed. Neverthe- 


KINETOGENESIS. 317 


less it is probable that the death of the horn would be 
associated with the deposit of the burr in this case 
also, were the conditions the same. What those con- 
ditions were we can only surmise. It was very prob- 
ably the death of the integument which invested and 
nourished the horn that produced that result; and 
this would more readily occur in the exposed antlers 
than in the more protected basal portion of the beam. 
It is very probable that this result would follow blows 
and laceration of the surface received during combat, 
or accidental contact with hard substances. The in- 
tegument would be stripped up to near the junction of 
the antlers with each other, or of the beam with the 
cranium, and the arteries would be constricted or 
closed at those points. It is near these junctions that 
all of the burrs are found. But as such lesion would 
be necessarily less complete at the point where the ° 
horn has greatest circumference, so the entire death 
of the horn might be less usual than that of the 
branches. Should such lesions have occurred for a 
long period at the breeding season, nature’s efforts to 
repair by redeposit of bony tissue might as readily be- 
come periodical as the increase in size and activity of 
the reproductive organs and other growths which char- 
acterize the breeding season in many animals. The 
subsequent death of the horn would be at some time 
followed by its shedding by the ordinary process of 
sloughing.” 

Cosoryx is not the true ancestor of the Cervida, as 
its teeth have already attained the prismatic type of 
the higher Bovide. But Blastomeryx is most prob- 
ably the ancestor of the deer. The remains of this 
genus occur with those of Cosoryx, but the burr has 
not yet been observed on its horns. 


318 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


lv. THE MECHANICAL ORIGIN OF DENTAL TYPES. 


In investigating the origin of dental types it is 
necessary to become acquainted with the nature of the 
mutual movements of the series of the opposing jaws. 
I have classified them as follows :1 


I. Inferior molars work within superior molars, but not between 
them. Psalidodect mastication. 
1. The inferior molars shear on the interior side of the su- 
perior : Triconodontide. 
II. Part or all of inferior molars work alternately to and between 
superior molars. Amoebodect mastication. 
2. The inferior molar shears forwards on the superior mo- 
lar. Proterotome mastication: Creodonta; Carnivora. 
3. The inferior molars shear posteriorly against the superior 
molars. Opisthotome mastication : 
Coryphodontide, Uintatheriide. 
III. Molar teeth of both jaws oppose each other. Antiodect mas- 
tication. 
4. The movement of the lower jaw is vertical. Orthal mas- 


tication : Suotdea, Tapiride, 
5, The movement of the lower jaw is from without inwards. 
Ectal mastication : many Perissodactyla. 


6. The movement of the lower jaw is from within outwards. 
Ental mastication : 

most Artiodactyla; some Perrissodactyla, 

7. The movement of the lower jaw is from before backwards, 

Proal : 

some Monotremata Multituberculata and most Glires. 

8. The movement of the lower jaw is from behind forwards. 

Palinal : Proboscidea (Ryder). 


The distinction of teeth into incisors, canines, and 
molars appears independently at various points in the 
line of Vertebrata. Incisors and molars are distin- 


1Mechan, Origin Hard Parts of Mammalia, 1889, p. 226. 


KINETOGENESIS. 319 


guished in sparoid fishes, and in placodont and dia- 
dectid reptiles. Canine-like teeth, or pseudo-canines, 
appear in clepsydropid and crocodilian reptiles, and 
in saurodont fishes. Canine-like incisors appear in 
the Clepsydropide. The variety of character in these 
structures presented by the Mammalia to be consid- 
ered is great, and the principles deduced from obser- 
vation of them are applicable to the Vertebrata in 
general. 

As mechanical causes of the origin of dental modi- 
fications, I have enumerated the following : 

1. Increase of size of a tooth, or a part of a tooth, 
is due to increased use, within a certain maximum of 
capacity for increased nutrition. 

2. The change of direction and use of a tooth take 
place away from the direction of greatest, and in the 
direction of least resistance. 

3. It follows, from their greater flexibility, that 
crests of crowns of teeth yield to strains more readily 
than do the cusps. 

4. The increase in the length of crests and cusps 
in all directions, and therefore the plications of the 
same, is directly as the irritation from use to which 
their apices and edges are subjected, to the limit set 
by the destructive effects of such ‘use, or by the re- 
cuperative energy of nutrition. 

5. The direction of growth of the branches of a V, 
or of the horns of a crescent, will be the direction of 
movement of the corresponding parts of the opposite 
jaw. 

Before giving a review of the various dental types 
of Mammalia, I wish to describe some special exam- 
ples where the effect of mechanical causes is most ob- 
vious. I therefore first repeat the observation of Ryder 


320 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


as to the origin of the selenodont molars of the Artio- 
dactyla; and my own as to the origin of a similar 
structure in the molars of certain multituberculate Pro- 
totheria. In the former the mastication is ental; in 
the latter it is proal, as shown by Osborn. 

In the accompanying figure from Ryder the move- 
ments of the lower jaw in mastication of lophodonts, 
are diagrammatically represented. @ represents the 
movement in Carnivora, and in the orthal bunodonts, 
as the pigs. 4 shows a slight lateral movement be- 
lieved by ee to exist in the wart hog (Phacoche- 


MNOS 


Fig. 88.—Diagram of excursion of lower jaw in mastication; from Ryder; 
a-b, orthal; c-/, ental. 


rus). ¢ represents the movement in kangaroos, pha- 
langers, and tapirs. Ind a theoretical intermediate 
movement is represented, such as Ryder supposed to 
have characterized the Anchitherium. In ¢ the usual 
movement among ruminants is depicted, as is seen in 
the deer, etc. In / the wider excursion of the jaw is 
that seen in the giraffe, camel, and ox. In these move- 
ments from 4 to f, the lower jaw is moved transversely 
across the upper jaw from one side to the other. 
Some of the Diplarthra masticate on one side of the 
jaw when performing this movement, and some on the 
other. That is, in passing the lower jaw across the 
face of the upper, some masticate the food on the side 


KINETOGENESIS. 321 


where the external face of the lower jaw crosses the 
upper jaw from within outwards (ental); while in other 
types the food is masticated on the side where the 
lower jaw passes the external edge of the upper jaw 
from without inwards (ectal). While masticating with 
one side of the jaws, the opposing dental series of the 
other side are not in contact. All mutual effect of the 
teeth of one jaw on the other could therefore appear 
on the side temporarily used for mastication only. 
Among recent Un- 
gulata the rumi- 
nants present the 
ental mastication ; 
the rhinoceros and 
horses, the ectal ; 
and rodents, the 
proal. Ryder is of 
the opinion that the 
mastication of the 
Proboscidia is pali- 


nal, but I have not Fig. 89.—Cervus, molars: a, superior, exter- 


been able to satisfy nal view ; 4, do. inferior view; c, inferior molars, 
superior view; from Ryder. 


myself of this. 

When the crests of the inferior molars were devel- 
oped, their relation to the crests of the superior molars 
was always anterior in mastication. That is, the in- 
ferior crest, in the closing of the jaw, collides with the 
crest of the upper molar, with its posterior edge against 
the anterior edge of the latter. This is because: first, 
as to position, the two anterior cusps of the lower 
molar are the remains of the anterior triangle which 
fit originally between two superior molars, and: be- 
cause, in the closing of the jaw, these cusps continue 
to hold that position ; and second, as to function, be- 


i 


322 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


cause the canine in the ungulate series diminishes in 
size, and does not, therefore, draw the inferior molars 
forwards by wedging on the superior molar, as in the 
Carnivora, but allows free scope to the posterior trac- 
tion of the temporal muscle in its exercise on the lower 
jaw. 

In those forms which masticate from the inside out- 
wards (the ental type), the cusps of the inferior molars, 
passing between those of the superior molars, would 
tend to flatten the sides on which they exerted fric- 
tion, and to extend those sides outwards beyond the 
median apex of the cusp. (Fig. 90.) The result would 
be, and taking into view the yielding of the tissue to 


Fig. g90.—Cusps of superior premolars and molars: a, external cusps of 
molar of Sarcothraustes; 4, of Phenacodus; c, of Anthracotherium; d, of 
Oreodon; ¢, half of inferior molar of Cervus; /, superior premolar of Cory- 
phodon; from Ryder. 


such strain, has been, to modify the shape of the cusp 
by pushing its side walls, so that a horizontal section 
of it would become successively more and more cres- 
centic. The effect on the inferior teeth would be to 
produce the same result in their external cusps, but in 
the opposite direction. The sides of the cusps would 
be pushed inwards, past the apex, giving a crescentic 
section more or less perfect, as the operation of the 
cause had been of long or short duration. The result 
of the lateral movement in mastication may be under- 
stood by reference to the accompanying cut, Fig. gr. 
The external crescents of the inferior molars (4) are 
seen to pass between the internal crescents of the 


KINETOGENESIS. 323 


superior molars (2). The mutual interaction and effect 
on the form of the crescents may be readily under- 
stood. In Fig. go the successive stages of this effect 


Fig. 91 —Two true molars of both jaws of a ruminant: @, superior molars, 
their inner crescents; 4, inferior molars, their external crescents; the arcs 
show directions of motion of jaws in mastication; from Ryder. 
on one or two cusps may be seen, beginning with a 
cone (@) and terminating with crescents (¢/). Thus is 
the origin of the selenodont dentition of the highest 


Fig. 92.Transverse vertical sections of superior molar teeth, showing 
transition from bunodont (4) type to lophodonts (8, C). A, Sus erymanthius. 
B, Ovis amaltheus. C, Bos taurus, From Gaudry. Letters: d, dentine; e, 


enamel; c, cementum. 


artiodactyle explained by Ryder, and, I believe, cor- 
rectly. 

Kowalevsky and I have shown that the types with 
selenodont (crescent-bearing) molars, have descended 


324 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


from tubercle-bearing (bunodont) ancestors. This de- 
scent has witnessed an increased depth of the infold- 
ing of the crown, as represented in the accompanying 
figure. Now, in the table of masticatory types above 
given it is shown that in the bunodont type of the 
Suoidea the mastication is orthal, and a gradual in- 
crease in the length of! the lateral excursions of the 
lower jaw has been shown to have resulted in the ental 
mastication. Thus has structure kept pace with func- 
tion in the evolution of the selenodont dentition. 


Fig. 93.— Chzrox plicatus Cope, palate and molar teeth from below, three- 
halves natural size. From Puerco bed of New Mexico. From American Nat- 
uralist, 1887, p. 566. 

The general structure of the dentition in the Proto- 
theria Multituberculata is similar to that of the Glires. 
The incisors in the Plagiaulacide, Chirogide, and Poly- 
mastodontide have structure and functions generally 
similar to those of that order. The result in the 
form and function of the molar dentition has been sim- 
ilar to that observed in the Glires. The postglenoid 
process is probably absent in these animals; in any 
case the mandibular condyle is rounded, and is not 
transverse. Prof. H. F. Osborn has pointed out to 
me that mastication was performed by a fore-and-aft 


KINETOGENESIS. 325 


movement of the inferior molars on the superior in 
Plagiaulacide. This was no doubt the case in the 
other families named. The molar teeth of the lower 
types, as Tritylodon from the Trias, present conical 
tubercles in longitudinal series, two in the lower and 
three in the upper jaw. The two series of the lower 
jaw alternate with the three in the upper jaw, moving 
in the grooves between the latter, while the three se- 
ries of the upper molars reciprocally embrace the two 
of the lower molars. This is demonstrated by the 
mutual wear of the tubercles 
seen in Ptilodus and Chirox 
(Fig. 93). The trituration 
was probably the same in Tri- 
tylodon, but in Polymastodon 
the increased thickening of 
the tubercles prevented their 
interlocking action in masti- 
cation. In this genus the tu- 
bercles slid over each other, Fig. 94.—4, Meniscobssus conquis- 
and truncated the apices i eae a oT 
until in old specimens they twicenatural size. B, Meniscoéssus, 
were entirely worn away. In second species, from Osborn. 

Meniscoéssus (Fig. 94) and Stereognathus we have an 
interesting illustration of the effect of the action of 
cusps on each other when under prolonged mutual 
lateral thrust. Their external sides have been drawn 
out into angles in the direction of thrust, converting 
their transverse sections from circles to crescents. As 
the thrust is in the Multituberculata longitudinal, the 
crescents are transverse to the axis of the jaw. Inthe 
selenodont Artiodactyla, where the thrust is transverse 
to the line of the jaw, the crescents are longitudinal. 
That similar effects should accompany similar move- 


326 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


ments in two groups of Mammalia so widely separated 
as these two is strong evidence in favor of the belief 
that the two facts stand in the relation of cause and 
effect. 

I now present an example of the effect of strain, as 
shown by the direction of the inferior incisors of the 
lemurine Quadrumana. These teeth project horizon- 
tally from the extremity of the mandible, so as not to 
oppose the superior incisors, in consequence of which 
they are useless as organs of prehension. But they 


Fig. 95.—Lemur collaris, dentition from below and above; natural size; 
original. 


are used by their possessors as a comb for the fur, 
drawing them from below upwards when thus employ- 
ing them. The strain is always in one direction, and 
must have resulted in developing the procumbent posi- 
tion which they now display (Fig. 95). This is a di- 
rect deduction from the fact that the incisor teeth are 
similarly displaced by the pressure of the tongue in 
cases of the abnormal enlargement of that organ in 
man. 

I now describe the general character of mammalian 
dentition, with the view of pointing out how strong, in 


KINETOGENESIS, 327 


the light of the facts already cited, is the evidence of 
their origin through mechanical strains and impacts. 


a. The Origin of Canine Teeth. 


The origin of canine, pseudo-canine, and canine- 
like incisor teeth is due to the strains sustained by 
them on account of their position in the jaws at points 
which are naturally utilized in the seizing of prey, or 
the fighting of enemies. In some reptiles (Dimetro- 
don) the end of the muzzle has been utilized ; in croco- 
diles, the side of the jaw; while the intermediate 
position has been most used by Mammalia. The rea- 
son why the canine instead of the incisor teeth have 
been selected by carnivorous Mammalia for prehensile 
purposes is not at present clear to me. In accordance 
with Rule I., its increased size has been due to the 
especial and energetic strains to which it has been 
subjected while in use as a prehensile or offensive 
weapon, when buried in the body of its prey or enemy. 
The superior canine would acquire larger size earlier 
in time than the inferior canine, since it bears the 
greater part of such strain, as attached to the more 
fixed head and body of its possessor. The anterior 
teeth of the lower jaw would be less available for use, 
since they offer weaker and less fixed resistance to the 
opposing body. That the first tooth behind the canine 
was not generally enlarged is (under I.) due to the 
fact that its posterior position prevents it from having 
the same amount of use, and experiencing the strain 
that a tooth more anteriorly placed necessarily re- 
ceives. It is excluded from considerable use by the 
projecting muzzle above and in front of it. That it 
was not drawn out into a horizontal position was due 
to the presence of teeth anterior to it. 


328 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


That the increased size of canine teeth is due to 
strains is strongly indicated by the huge development 
of these teeth in the walrus. This animal uses its ca- 
nines for the breaking of ice, and for lifting itself from 
the water on to the edge of strong ice. The fact that 
canines and not incisors have been thus developed is 
a necessary result of the fact that the walrus is a de- 
scendant of a line of animals which had already re- 
duced incisors and larger canines. 


Fig. 96.—Esthonyx burmeisterii Cope, dentition: @, profile; 4, superior; 
c, inferior dentition, grinding faces. Reduced. 


6. Development of the Inctsors. 

The history of the incisor teeth of the Mammalia 
exhibits three processes, viz.: hypertrophy (e. g. 
Glires), specialization (e. g. Galeopithecus, Lemur- 
ide), and atrophy (e. g. Bodidea, Phacochcerus, Glos- 
sophaga, etc.). 


KINETOGENESIS. 329 


Of hypertrophy we have two types: the first repre- 
sented by the Glires, Multituberculata, Tillodonta and 
their ancestors; and second, by the Proboscidia, the 
narwhal and certain Sirenia. As the uses of the inci- 
sors present two types corresponding with their struc- 
ture, we have ground for believing the uses in question 
to have been the efficient agent in producing the lat- 
ter. Esthonyx furnishes us with an example (Fig. 96) 
where all the incisors are present in the lower jaw, and 


Fig. 97.—Psittacotherium multifragum Cope, mandibular ramus, one-half 
natural size; «, profile; 4, from above. 


where the function of one pair of them (the second) 
has evidently been partially rodent in character; that 
is, it has served as a scraper and gouger of food sub- 
stances. Persistent use has apparently developed the 
size of this pair of teeth, until we find in Psittacothe- 
rium (Fig. 97) they have reached a greater efficiency, 
and that the external incisors of the lower jaw have 
disappeared. This disappearance can be accounted 
for on the ground of disuse, a retirement from service 
due to position, and the increased growth of incisor 


330 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


No. 2. In Calamodon the first incisor has become ru- 
dimentary from the same cause, and in Anchippodus 
it has disappeared altogether, leaving a truly rodent 
incisor dentition, consisting of the second incisors 
only, in the lower jaw. Continued use as chisels has 
developed these teeth to the great proportions seen 
in such Glires as Castoroides, etc. (Fig. 107). 

The use which the Proboscidia and Sirenia (Hali- 
core) give their incisors, is, from a mechanical point 
of view, like that which the Carnivora give their ca- 
nines ; that is, it consists of impacts in the long axis, 
and strains transverse to the long axis of the tooth. 
The elephants use their tusks for prying up the vege- 
tables on which they feed, or for pushing aside the 
vegetation through which they wish to pass. The an- 
cestors of the Proboscidia are not certainly known, 
but they possessed incisors of enlarged proportions, 
such as we find in the Toxodontia and other late rep- 
resentatives of some of the primitive Ungulata. Use 
of such teeth in the manner referred to, without oppo- 
sition from the inferior incisors, will account for the 
tremendous proportions which they ultimately reached 
in some of the species of Elephas. 

The use made by the narwhal of its single huge 
superior incisor, that of an ice-breaker, indicates the 
origin of its large dimensions. So with the straight 
incisors of the hippopotamus; use as diggers has 
straightened them to a horizontal from their primitive 
vertical direction, a change which is also partially ac- 
complished in the true pigs (Sus). 

In the Sirenian genus Halicore the upper incisors 
have been used in excavating vegetable growths from 
the banks and bottom of shallow seas. The transition 
from three incisors (Prorastomus) to two (Dioplothe- 


KINETOGENESIS. 331 


rium), and to one (Halicore), is identical with what 
has taken place in the Proboscidia and Glires, and 
has resulted in the production of an effective digging- 
tool. In other genera it may be supposed that their 
habits of browsing on soft growing materials did not 
necessitate the use of digging incisors, hence these 
teeth became atrophied, as in the manatee and Rhy- 
tina. 
c. Development of Molars. 

In fishes and reptiles where teeth occasionally pre- 
sent very primitive conditions, the theory of the origin 
of particular types of molar teeth is more simple than 
in the case of Mammalia. The observations of Hiiter 
on the action of osteoblasts under stimulus show that 
under moderate irritation osseous tissue is deposited, 
while under severe pressure osseous tissue is removed. 
Koelliker has shown that the action of these bodies is 
the same in dentine as intrue bone. Hence modifica- 
tions of dental structure must stand in close relation to 
the uses to which they are put. Thus severe pressure 
on a simple tooth crown would, if long continued, cause 
it to expand laterally, or in the direction of least re- 
sistance, and to grow but little in its vertical axis, i. e., 
in the direction of greatest resistance. The molar 
teeth have been subjected to much more severe direct 
irritation from use than any others in the jaws, and 
this will account for their increased diameters. 

In the case of the eutherian Mammalia, molar teeth 
are not traceable back to ancestral types of reptilian mo- 
lars, but to simple conic (haplodont) reptilian teeth. 
The process of the evolution of the complex mamma- 
lian molars from these, forms the subject of a paper in 
the American Journal of Morphology for 1889, from which 
I quote extensively in the present work. 


332 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


I have there shown that the greater number of the 
types of this series have derived the characters of their 
molar teeth from the stages of the following succes- 
sion. First a simple cone or reptilian crown, alternat- 
ing with that of the other jaw (haplodont type). Sec- 
ond, a cone with lateral denticles (the triconodont 
type). Third, the denticles to the inner or outer side 
of the crown, forming a three-sided prism, with tritu- 
bercular apex, which alternates with that of the oppo- 
site jaw (tritubercular type). Fourth, development of 
a heel projecting from the posterior base of the lower 
jaw, which meets the crown of the superior, forming a 
tuberculosectorial inferior molar. From this stage 
the carnivorous and sectorial dentition is derived, the 
tritubercular type being retained. Fifth, the develop- 
ment of a posterior inner cusp of the superior molar 
and the elevation of the heel of the inferior molar, 
with the loss of the anterior inner cusp. Thus the 
molars become quadritubercular, and opposite. This 
is the type of many of the Taxeopoda, including the 
Quadrumana and Insectivora as well as the inferior 
Diplarthra. The higher Taxeopoda (Hyracoidea) and 
Diplarthra; add various complexities. Thus the tu- 
bercles become flattened and then concave, so as to 
form V’s in the section produced by wearing ; or they 
are joined by cross-folds, forming various patterns. In 
the Proboscidia the latter become multiplied so as to 
produce numerous cross-crests. 


@. Origin of the Carnivorous Dentition. 


The anterior cusplet of the triconodont crown is 
(Fig. 98 A), in the upper jaw, the paracone, and in the 
lower jaw the paraconid ; and the posterior cusplet is 
the metacone or metaconid, respectively. As the prin- 


KINETOGENESIS. 333 


cipal cusps, or protocone and protoconid, alternate with 
each other, the cusplets stand opposite to them in the 
closing of the jaws, and a certain amount of interfer- 
ence results. As the lesser cusps are the less resistant 
to the wedging pressure of such contact, their position 
would change under its influence, rather than the large 
central cusps. The lower jaw fitting within the upper, 
the effect of the collision between the major cusps of 
the one jaw, and cusplets of the other, would be to 
emphasize the relation still more ; that is, the cusplets 
of the upper jaw would be wedged outwards, while 
those of the lower jaw would be pressed inwards, the 
major cusps retaining at first their original alternate 
position. With increase of the size of the teeth the 
cusps would soon assume in each jaw a position more 
or less transverse to that of the other jaw, producing, 
as a result of the crowding, a crown with‘a triangular 
section in both. The process may be rendered clear 
by the following diagram : 


_: 2Q@okR Wc OQ'‘on 


A 


ses BUAY 


B 
Fig. 98.—Diagrammatic representations of horizontal sections of tricuspi- ‘ 
date molars of both jaws in mutual relation; the shaded ones represent those 
of the upper jaw: A, Triconodon; &, Menacodon; C, ideal tritubercular mo- 
lars, approached by Menacodon, B. 

It is supposed on the contrary by Rése and Kiken- 
thal that mammalian molars which support more than 
one cusp have been formed by the fusion of several 
simple reptilian cones. So far as regards the higher 
Mammalia this hypothesis is in opposition to all the 
facts of paleontology and is not worthy of discussion. 


334 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


The only question that can arise is with reference to. 
’ the origin of the multituberculate molar of the'Proto- 
theria. 

It is further questioned by Forsyth-Major, whether 
the tritubercular molar has been derived from the tri- 
conodont. He believes, on the contrary, that it is de- 
rived from the multitubercular type by reduction. 
There are two objections to this view: (1) the cones 
of the tritubercular tooth or trigon should be subequal, 
were they derived from a multitubercular source. On 
the contrary, the two external cones of the upper, and 
the two inner cones of the lower series are in the 
earliest (Jurassic), as well as most of the tritubercular 
types, smaller than the single opposite cusp or proto- 
cone, precisely as are the anterior and posterior cones 
of the triconodont molar. (2) No paleontologic series 
from the multitubercular to the tritubercular types has 
been traced, while the series from the.triconodont to 
the tritubercular is well known. Forsyth-Major’s evi- 
dence that such a transition exists in the Glires, is 
better explained by tracing the moderate complexity 
he describes to a tritubercular origin. 

It is also alleged by Allen and Scott that the inter- 
nal cusps of the premolars, when present, originate by 
the development of internal cingula, and have no prim- 
itive tritubercular ancestry. The evidence at our dis- 
posal from paleontological sources is in favor of this 
view; hence it is reasoned that the history of the mo- 
lar teeth must have been identical. This however does 
not follow, especially as the paleontologic evidence 
points the other way. The history of the two series 
has been different. In the first place the premolars 
have been subjected to much less use than the true 
molars; hence they retained the primitive reptilian 


KINETOGENESIS. 335 


simplicity for a much longer period, a simplicity which 
they retain in the Carnivora, except the 1, which be- 
came the sectorial. Secondly, the premolars, instead 
of increasing in size, have in many types decreased ; 
the Diplarthra alone presenting an exception to this 
rule. That the internal cusps of the premolars may 
have arisen by growth of cingula in this order, is by no 
means improbable. We seem to have here an excel- 
lent illustration of the origin of two identical struc- 
tures by different evolutionary routes. 

The first modification of the tritubercular molar of 
the lower jaw is the addition of a low cingulum at the 
posterior base. This is seen in a rudimentary condi- 
tion in various living species of the Centetide and 
Chrysochloridz of the insectivorous order (Fig. 100); 
but in these existing forms the superior molar has 
added a posterior cingulum also, which widens inter- 
nally, or towards the palate (Fig. 101). In the evolu- 
tion of the dentition, the inferior posterior cingulum, 
or ‘‘heel,” was developed first, as in the Deltatherium, 
Centetes, and Stypolophus (Figs. 9g, 100, 102), where 
it is quite large; while the superior cingulum is want- 
ing in Stypolophus and Didelphodus, but is present in 
a very rudimentary condition in De/tatherium fundamt- 
nis. Inallof these genera the external cusps of the 
superior series have been pressed inwards, and more 
or less together, and are therefore removed in this re- 
spect from the primitive condition. The more primi- 
tive state of the superior cusps is seen in some species 
of Mioclenus, where, however, a posterior cingulum 
may be developed. The primitive type of tritubercular 
superior molar is that of Sarcothraustes, and in the 
same genus the inferior molar only differs from the 
primitive type in having a well-developed heel. Among 


336 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


recent Mammalia the carnivorous and insectivorous 
Marsupialia generally have the tritubercular lower mo- 
lar with heel. In the Chiroptera and many Insectivora 
the heel is largely developed, and supports two cusps, 
as it does in some Creodonta. 


eo780 Set tteey, 
. a 
; mee, 


Fig. 99.—Deltatherium fundaminis Cope, fragmentary skull, two-thirds 
natural size; from the Puerco bed of New Mexico. a, 4, c, from one individ- 
ual; @, from a second animal; a, right side of cranium; 4, palate from be- 
low; c, mandible, part from above; d@, left ramus, outer side; from the Re- 
port of the U.S. Geol. Surv. Terrs., Vol. UI. 


From this point the evolution of the tritubercular 
molar must be considered from two standpoints. The 
first is the mechanical cause of the changes of its form ; 
and the second is the mechanical cause of its definite 


KINETOGENESIS, 337 


location in a particular part of the jaw. For it has 
been already stated that in the evolution of the secto- 
rial dentition of the Carnivora, the number of molars 
and premolars has considerably diminished, while 
those that remain have become relatively much larger. 

In the tritubercular dentition the crowns proper of 
one jaw alternate with those of the other (Fig. 100); 
but when heels are added in either jaw, they will op- 
pose such part of the crowns of the teeth in the oppo- 


Fig. 100,—Centetes ecaudatus: A, skull, side seen obliquely from below; 
B, superior molars from below; C, inferior molars from above. 
site jaw as comes in contact with them when in use. 
The development of the heel in the inferior molars 
produced a type which is known as the tuberculosec- 
torial. This type characterizes the Creodonta and a 
few Carnivora. In the former there are generally 
three such teeth, in the latter but one. 

In the tuberculosectorial type of inferior molar the 
primitive tritubercular part of the crown (trigonid of 
Osborn) stands principally anterior to the posterior 


338 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


root of the tooth. It appears that the posterior root 
has been extended backwards, so as to occupy a posi- 
tion below the middle of the superior molar, while the 
tritubercular crown has been confined to the space be- 
tween the crowns of the superior molars. This would 
follow of necessity from the alternating action of the 
crowns of the opposite series, in connection with a 
general increase in size of the teeth. In the opening of 


prt 


Fig. 101.—Series of inferior molar crowns representing the transition from 
the simple (haplodont) to the quadritubercular, From Osborn. 


the jaws in a Creodont, the elevated portion of the in- 
ferior crown shears by its posterior face against the 
anterior face of the superior molar, thus restraining its 
extension posteriorly. The stimulus of use, however, 
develops a low extension posteriorly, or a heel, which 
covers the posterior root, and opposes in mastication 
the internal extremity or tubercle of the crown of the 
superior molar above it. Thus a molar element in 


KINETOGENESIS. 339 


mastication is added to the sectorial in some Creodonta, 
and in Canide and Urside, etc., among Carnivora. 
This function predominates over that of the anterior 
triangle in the Lemuride. (Fig. 95.) 

I have already pointed out the successive modifica- 
tions of form which have resulted in the existing spe- 
cialized single inferior sectorial tooth of the Felide. 
They consist in the gradual obliteration of the poster- 
ior-internal cusp, and of the heel, and the enlargement 
of the external and anterior internal tubercles of the 
primitive triangle. The modification in the character 
of the dentition taken as a whole was shown to consist 


Fig, 102.—Stypholophus whitie Cope; diagram representing the apposition 
of the inferior and superior molars. The superior are in light, the inferior 
in heavy lines. The numbers represent the molars and premolars: C, canine; 
poc, protocone; fac, paracone; wc, metacone; POC, protoconid; PAC, para- 
conid ; C, metaconid ; 4c, hypocone; HC, hypoconid. 
in the reduction of the number of the teeth, including 
the sectorials, until in Felis, etc., we have almost the 
entire function of the molar series confined to a single 
large sectorial in each jaw. 

The genesis of the superior sectorial tooth has 
been explained as follows. In consequence of the 
fact that the lower canine tooth shuts anterior to the 
superior canine, the result of the enlargement of the 
diameters of those teeth will be to cause the crowns 
of the inferior teeth to be drawn from behind forwards 
against those of the superior teeth when the jaw is 
closed (Fig. 102). Thus a shearing motion would re- 


340 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


sult between the anterior external edge of the lower 
triangle and the posterior internal edge of the superior 
triangle. Now the characters of the true sectorial teeth 
consist in the enormous extension of these same edges 
in a fore and aft direction, the inferior shutting inside 
of the superior. To account for the development of 
these blades we must understand that the oblique pres- 
sure of the front edge of the lower tooth, on the hind 
edge of the superior tooth, has been continued for a 
very longtime. We must then observe that the inter- 
nal tubercle of the superior triangle has been pushed 
continually forwards and been reduced to a very small 
size. Why should this occur? Why should not the 
corresponding tubercles of the inner side of the lower 
crown have been pushed backwards, since action and 
reaction are equal? The reason is clear: The superior 
tubercle is on the internal apex of the trigon, and is 
supported by but one root, while the resistant portion 
of the inferior crown is the base of the trigonid, and 
is supported by two, thus offering twice the resistance 
to the pressure that the superior does. But why should 
the anterior part of the inferior tooth move forwards? 
even if it be in the direction of least resistance? This 
is due to the regular increase in size of the teeth them- 
selves, an increase which can be traced from the be- 
ginning to the end of the series. And this increase is 
the usual result of use (Fig. 102). 

The mechanics of the above proposition I believe 
to be correct, but I have had occasion to modify the 
statement as to the initiatory cause of the process. In 
many primitive Ungulata the canines have been as 
well developed as in the Carnivora, yet the forward 
pressure of the inferior molars on the superiors has 
not resulted, or has not been sufficient to produce sec- 


KINETOGENESIS. 341 


torial molars in those types. In the Amblypoda, the 
lower molars even shear backwards on the upper ones. 
It seems then that this growth of the canines is not in 
all instances sufficient to cause a proterotome masti- 
cation. I suspect that the more usual cause is to be 
found in the voluntary effort of the primitive flesh- 
eater, to masticate flesh by the manipulation of his 
lower jaw and the body to be divided. The presence 
of the inferior canine forbids a posterior shearing move- 
ment of the molars, so that the anterior shear is the 
only one possible to most of the Creodonta. The ab- 


Fig. 103.—Cynodictis geismarianus Cope; skull one-half natural size: w, 
right side; 4, left side from below. 


sence of preglenoid crest in primitive Creodonta will 
permit a manipulation such as we observe in various 
ungulates to-day. The formation of a habit of a pro- 
terotome mastication would result, and the structural 
results would succeed as above pointed out. 

The excess of the forwards pressure of the inferior 
teeth against the superior over any backwards pres- 
sure, has left the posterior internal cusp of the triangle 
of the inferior molar (metaconid) without contact or 
consequent functional use. It has, consequently, grad- 
ually disappeared, having become small in the highest 


342 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Canidz, and wanting in some Mustelide, and all Fe- 
lide. The heel of the same tooth has had a similar 
history. With the diminution in size of the first supe- 
rior tubercular, with which it comes in opposition in 
mastication, its functional stimulus also diminished ; 
and it disappeared sometimes a little sooner (Felide) 
and sometimes a little later (Hyznidz) than that tooth. 

The specialization of one tooth to the exclusion of 
others as a sectorial, appears to be due to the follow- 
ing causes. It is to be observed in the first place that 
when a carnivore devours a carcass, it cuts off masses 
with its sectorials, using them as shears. In so doing 


Fig. 104.—Aelurodon sevus Leidy; diagram representing coadaptation of 
crowns of superior and inferior molars in mastication; lines and lettering as 
in Fig. 102. 


it brings the part to be divided to the angle or canthus 
of the soft walls of the mouth, which is at the front of 
the masseter muscle. At this-point the greatest amount 
of force is gained, since the weight is thus brought 
immediately to the power, which would not be the case 
were the sectorial situated much in front of the mas- 
seter. On the other hand, the sectorial could not be 
situated farther back, since it would then be inacces- 
sible to a carcass or mass too large to be taken into 
the mouth. 

The position of the sectorial tooth being thus shown 
to be dependent on that of the masseter muscle, it re- 
mains to ascertain a probable cause for the relation of 


KINETOGENESIS. 343 


the latter to the dental series in modern Carnivora. 
Why, for instance, were not the last molars modified 
into sectorial teeth in these animals, as in the extinct 
Hyznodon, and various Creodonta. The answer ob- 
viously is to be found in the development of the pre- 
hensile character of the canine teeth. It is probable 
that the gape of the mouth in the Hyznodons was 
very wide, since the masseter was situated relatively 
far posteriorly. In such an animal the anterior parts 
of the jaws with the canines had little prehensile power, 
as their form and anterior direction also indicates. 
They doubtless snapped rather than lacerated their 
enemies. The same habit is seen in the existing dogs, 
whose long jaws do not permit the lacerating power 
of the canines of the Felidz, though more effective in 
this respect than those of the Hyznodons. The use- 
fulness of a lever of the third kind depends on the ap- 
proximation of the power to the weight ; that is, in the 
present case, the more anterior the position of the 
masseter muscle, the more effective the canine teeth. 
Hence it appears that the relation of this muscle to 
the inferior dental series depended originally on the 
use of the canines as prehensile and lacerating organs, 
and that its relative insertion has advanced from be- 
hind forwards in the history of carnivorous types. 
Thus it is that the only accessible molars, the fourth 
above and the fifth below, have become specialised as 
sectorials, while the fifth, sixth, and seventh have, 
firstly, remained tubercular as in the dogs, or, sec- 
ondly, have been lost, as in hyenas and cats. 

The reduction of the number of molars in relation 
to the increase in the size of the canines commenced 
as early as the Jurassic period. It is seen in the gen- 
era Triconodon (Owen) and Paurodon (Marsh), where 


KINETOGENESIS. 345 


\ 


the canines are large and the molars few. In the 
Plagiaulacide a similar relation is: seen between the 
development of the incisors and the reduction in num- 
ber of the molars. This is the modification of relation 


From Gaudry. 


Fig. 106.—Sections of crowns of molars of Ungulata from Dinotherium to Eiephas 


primigenius, A,B, Dinotherium; C, D, Mastodon; Z, /, G, Elephas. 


observed in existing Mammalia of the orders Probos- 
cidia and Glires, which will be mentioned later, under 
the head of proal dentition. 


e. Origin of the Dental Type of the Glres. 


The peculiarities of the rodent dentition consist, as is 
well known, in the great development of the incisors ; 


346 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


the loss of the canine and of all but one, or rarely of 
two, of the premolars, which leave a wide diastema ; 
and the posterior position of the molar teeth, as relates 
to the rest of the skull. A peculiarity which belongs to 
the highest types of the order is the prismatic form of 
the molars, and the deep inflection of their always 
transverse enamel folds both laterally and vertically. 
A peculiarity of the masticating apparatus, which is the 
basis of distinction from the bunotherian order, is the 
lack of postglenoid process, and the consequent freedom 
of the lower jaw to slide backwards and forwards in 
mastication. Appropriately to this motion the condyle 
of the mandible is either subglobular, or is extended 
anteroposteriorly, and the glenoid cavity is a longitudi- 
nal instead of a transverse groove. 

The mechanical action of the development of the 
rodent dentition has been as follows. The first factor 
in the order of time and importance was the increasing 
length of the incisor teeth. Those of the lower jaw 
closed behind those of the upper in the progenitors of 
the Glires (e. g. Psittacotherium) as in other Mamma- 
lia. Increase of length of these teethin both jaws would 
tend to keep the mouth permanently open, were it not 
for the possibility of slipping the lower jaw backwards 
as it closed on the upper. This backward pressure 
had undoubtedly existed, and has operated from the 
earliest beginning of the growth of the rodent incisors. 
The process has been precisely the opposite of that 
which has occurred to the Carnivora, where the pres- 
sure has been ever forwards owing to the development 
of the canines. The progressive lengthening of the 
incisors through use has been dwelt on by Professor 
Ryder (2 ¢.). The posterior pressure on the lower 
jaw, produced by its closing on the upper, has been 


KINE TOGENESIS. 347 


increased directly as the increase in the length of the 
incisors, especially those of the lower jaw. 

The first effect of this posterior pressure will have 
been to slide the condyle of the mandible posteriorly 


be 


ae 
: 


ng ramus: c, 
; e, foramen infraorbitale; from Hall and Wyman. 


over the postglenoid surface, if any were present, as is 
probable, in the bunotherian ancestor of the rodent. 
Continued repetition of the movement would probably 
push the process backwards so as to render it ineffec- 
tive as a line of resistance, and ultimately to flatten it 


348 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


out against the otic bulla, and atrophy it. The lower 
jaw would thus come to occupy that peculiarly pos- 
terior position which it does in all rodents. 

The anteroposterior (proal!) type of mastication 
becoming necessary, an appropriate development of 
the muscles moving the lower jaw, with their inser- 
tions, follows, parz passu. As a result we see that the 
insertion of the temporal muscle creeps forward on the 
ramus, until in the highest rodents (Cavia) it extends 
along the ramus to opposite the first true molars. The 
office of this muscle is to draw the ramus backwards 
and upwards, a movement which is commenced so 
soon as the inferior incisor strikes the apex of the su- 
perior incisor on the posterior side. By this muscle 
the inferior molars are drawn posteriorly and in close 
apposition to the superior molars. Connected with 
this movement, probably as an effect, we find the co- 
ronoid process of the mandible to have become grad- 
ually reduced in size to complete disappearance in 
some of the genera, e. g. of Leporidz. In these gen- 
era the groove-like insertion of the temporal muscle 
develops as the coronoid process disappears. 

As third and fourth effects of the posterior position 
of the lower jaw, we have the development of the in- 
ternal pterygoid and masseter muscles and their inser- 
tions and origins. The angle of the ramus being forced 
backwards, these muscles are gradually stretched back- 
wards at their insertions, and their contraction be- 
comes more anteroposterior in direction than before. 
The internal pterygoid becomes especially developed, 
and its point of origin, the pterygoid fossa, becomes 
much enlarged. The border of the angle of the man- 
dible becomes more or less inflected. In their effect 


1Page 318. 


KINETOGENESIS. 349 


on the movements of the ramus they oppose that of 
the temporal muscle, since they draw the ramus for- 
wards. They are the effective muscles in the use of 
the incisor teeth ; that is, in the opposition of the in- 
ferior incisors against the superior from below and 
posteriorly. Hence the great development of the in- 
ternal pterygoid, and, in a less degree, of the masse- 
ter. Both muscles tend also to close the jaws, but at 
a different point in the act of mastication from that at 
which the temporal acts. If we suppose the mouth 
to be open, the action of the masseter and internal 
pterygoid muscles draws the mandible forwards and 
upwards until the incisors have performed their office, 
or the molars are in contact with each other or with the 
food. They then relax, and their temporal muscle 
continues the upward pressure, but draws the ramus 
backwards to the limit set by the adjacent parts, caus- 
ing the act of mastication. 

A fifth effect of the development of the incisors and 
of the proal mastication, is seen in the position of the 
molar teeth. The indefinitely repeated strain and 
pressure applied to the superior molars from forwards 
and below has evidently caused a gradual extension of 
the maxillary bone backwards, so that the last molars 
occupy a position much posterior to that which they 
do in other orders of mammals. This is especially the 
case in such forms as Bathyergus, Arvicola, and Cas- 
toroides (Figs. 107-108), where the last molars are be- 
low the temporal fossa, and posterior to the orbit. 

A sixth effect of the causes mentioned has been re-: 
ferred to by Ryder.!. This is the oblique direction of 
the axes of the molar teeth. These directions are op- 
posite in the two jaws ; upwards and forwards for the 


1 Proceedings Philadelphia Academy, 1877, Pp. 314. 


350 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


lower, and downwards and batkwards for the upper. 
The mechanics of this change of direction from verti- 
cal in the primitive forms (Sciuridz) to oblique in the 


Fig. 108 —Castoroides ohioensis Foster ; two-thirds natural size; skull from 
below. a, incisine foramen; 4, pterygoid fossa; c, internal pterygoid plates; 
d, fossa in basioccipital bone; ¢, external auditory meatus; /, mastoid pro- 
cess; g, occipital condyles; 4, tympania bulla, after Hall and Wyman. 


genera with prismatic molars, is simple enough. The 
inferior crowns when closely appressed to the supe- 
rior, and drawn posteriorly in the direction of the long 
axis of the jaw, press and strain the teeth in the two 


KINETOGENESIS, 351 


directions mentioned. The development of the long 
prismatic crowns which has proceeded under these 
circumstances, has been undoubtedly affected by the 
pressure and strain, and the direction we find has been 
the result. 

The seventh effect is in the detailed structure of 
the teeth themselves. Beginning with short crowns 
with simple transverse crests (Psittacotherium and Sci- 
uride, Figs. 106, 109), 
we reach through inter- 
mediate forms, crowns 
with vertical lamine of 
enamel, which some- 
times divide the crown 
entirely across (Chinchil- 
lide, Caviide, Castoroid- 
ide) or appear only on 
the side of the crown, 
through the - continued 
coalescence of the prisms 
of which each molar 
crown is composed (Arvi- 


Fig. 109.—Jschyromys typus Leidy, from 
3 the White River beds of Colorado; orig- 
cola). In many instances inal; from the Report U.S. Geol. Surv 


Terrs.: b, cranium from below; @, man- 


the crowns increase iN 4:10 from above. 


transverse at the expense 

of their longitudinal diameter (Castor, Lepus). The 
vertically laminated structure is evidently due to the 
crowding together of transverse crests by the same 
pressure which has given the crowns their oblique di- 
rection. In many genera the lengthening of the crown 
has included the lengthening of the longitudinal con- 
nection between the transverse crests, as in Arvicola, 
Castor, and Hystricide generally. In others this con- 
nection has not been continued, so that the crown is 


‘ 


352 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


composed of prisms which are separate to near the 
base, as in Amblyrhiza and Geomyidz. In others, con- 
nection between the prisms has been lost by cenogeny, 
as in Chinchillide and Caviide generally. The latter 
families display also the greatest amount of crowding. 


Vv. DISUSE IN MAMMALIA. 


Modifications of structure of the mammalian skel- 
eton accompany the disuse of parts, no less distinctly 
than in other divisions of animals. That these modi- 
fications are the direct consequences of this disuse 
may be reasonably inferred as the antithesis to the 
thesis of development of structure through use, main- 
tained in the preceding pages. The evidence is more 
convincing from the fact that the same structures are 
observed to be related to similar dynamic conditions 
in groups of different taxonomic position. I select 
four illustrations from the Mammalia, from types in 
which the phylogeny is known, so that there is no 
question as to the degeneracy of the parts described. 


a. Natatory Limbs. 


The limbs have undergone great modifications of 
form in their gradual adaptation to aquatic habits. 
The stages of this process are to be observed first in 
the sea-otter (Enhydra), then in the seals, then'in the 
sirenians, and last in the Cetacea. This succession 
of groups is not given here as a phylogeny, for paleon- 
tology does not warrant any such history, but the phy- 
logeny of the limbs has been similar in the order of 
succession. 

The use of a limb as an oar for propulsion in the 
water requires that it shall be, so far as the blade is 
concerned, inflexible. Such a structure has existed in 


KINETOGENESIS. 353 


all thoroughly aquatic Vertebrata. This implies the 
immobility of the articulations, which is due to the 
loss of their condylar surfaces. This may be traced 
to disuse of such articulations. This disuse would be 
at first voluntary, the limb being held stiffly while used 
as an oar in the act of swimming. Loss of power of 
extension and flexion. is well 
known to result from disuse. 
It is well known that the flex- 
ors and extensors of the manus 
have become atrophied in the 
Cetacea. Not so, however, 
with the flexors and extensors 
of the humerus, which become 
those of the entire limb. In 
the whales the first segment of 
the fore limb is enclosed within 
the integument of the body, 
so that its motion being much 
restricted, the insertional 
crests are reduced in size. In 
the eared seals (Otariidz) the 
hind limbs are somewhat free 
from the body integument, so 
that they can be turned for- Fig. 110,.—Balena mysticetus 
ward when on land. They are oo from Cuvier, Oss, Fos 
further enclosed in the true 

seals (Phocidz) so that their motion is very slight and 
they cannot be used for progression on land, and are 
available only for swimming. 


b. Abortion of Phalanges in Ungulata. 


In the heavy Ungulata the longitudinal diameter 
of the phalanges is greatly reduced in relation to their 


354 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


The successive increase in depression in 


the bones of the feet with the advance of time is to be 


transverse. 


a b ¢ 


Fig. 111.—a, Pantolambda bathmodon, digit of posterior foot. 4, Right posterior foot of a species of Cory- 
phodon from New Mexico, one-half natural size. From Cope, Report Expl. W. of rooth Mer., G. M. Wheeler, IV., 
Pl. LIX. c, Zobastleus mirabilis, right posterior foot; from Marsh, Dinocerata. 


most readily seen in the order Amblypoda, where we 
pass from Pantolambda to Coryphodon and Uintathe- 


KINETOGENESIS. 355 


rium (Fig. 111.) A similar successive reduction is to be 
seen in the lines of the Perrisodactyla, as we pass from 
the smaller and lighter to the heavier and more bulky 
types. Such series are those which commence in the 
Lophiodontidz, and terminate in the Menodontidz on 
the one hand, and the rhinoceroses on the other. The 
elephants display the end of a similar line, which com- 
mences in the Condylarthra. In all of these bulky 
mammals the weight in progression is borne on the 
extremities of the metapodial bones, and the phalanges 
take but little share in it. They are turned forwards 
and are nearly useless. Their great reduction in di- 
mensions in these forms appears to me to have fol- 
lowed disuse, and this is then the probable cause of it. 


c. Atrophy of the Uina and Fibula. 


Successive atrophy of the ulna and fibula has been 
already referred to (p. 135). This is coextensive with 
reduction of the number of the digits in the ungulate 
Mammalia, and with the development of the digital 
patagium in the bats. This is in broad contrast to the 
subequal development of the ulna and radius in the 
Cetacea, where the fore limb functions as the blade of 
anoar. The cause of the reduction of the two ele- 
ments in the Ungulata is the restriction of the func- 
tions of the fore and hind limb to the radius and tibia 
respectively. The distal extremities of the ulna and 
fibula are supported by the external bones of the carpal 
and tarsal series respectively. The reduction of the 
external digit deprives the external bones in question 
of their share in the support of the general weight, and 
consequently relieves them of the impact which passes 
through the longer median digits which remain. The 
median digits, on the other hand, support the radius 


356 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


and tibia through the medium of the carpus and tar- 
sus, and it is these elements therefore which function 
in the use of the limb. We have here an evident 
illustration of. the effect of disuse in effecting the 
atrophy of an element, and of use in increasing the 
size and complexity of an adjacent element, of the 
same organism. No other explanation seems possible, 
for the elements which are reduced and those which 
are enlarged, are subjected in every other respect to 
the same conditions. 


ad. Atrophy of Incisor Teeth. 


This is complete in both jaws of existing Edentata ; 
the upper jaw of Dinocerata and many Artiodactyla, 
and is partial in the upper jaw in various Chiroptera 
and Lemuride. We have already seen (p. 326) that 
the superior incisors of certain Lemuride are without 
utility, owing to the conversion of the inferior incisors 
into a horizontal comb. I have ascribed the reduction 
of the superior incisors of bats to disuse consequent on 
the adoption of a frugivorous diet.1_ Further reason, 
which is common to the living members of the orders 
mentioned, is to be found in the disuse which has fol- 
lowed the use of the tongue as an organ for the pre- 
hension of food. The fruit-eating bats with most re- 
duced incisors (Glossophaginz) carry the soft parts of 
fruits into the mouth with the tongue. The Edentata 
use the tongue for the collection of both insect and 
vegetable food, projecting it far exterior to the mouth. 
The Artiodactyla without superior incisors however, 
combine the prehensile use of the tongue with a use of 
the lower incisors, which bite off the grass thus seized, 


1Mechan. Origin, etc., Mammalia, 1889, p. 224. See also Dr, H. Allen, 
Proceeds, Academy, Philadelphia, 1891, p. 451. 


KINETOGENESIS, 357 


while it is pressed against the pad which replaces the 
superior incisors. Why the superior incisors should 
have disappeared in this group is not yet clear to my 
mind. 

In this connection Dr. Allen (/. c.) reminds us that 
in hypertrophy of the tongue in man, the inferior in- 
cisors are thrown forward and are widely separated 
from each other. He considers it reasonable to infer 
that in lower animals where the tongue is used for pre- 
hension, the similar change which takes place in the 
teeth, from a vertical to a horizontal position, is induced 
by this cause. 


Vi. HOMOPLASSY IN MAMMALIA. 


The direct evidence in favor of kinetogenesis above 
adduced is greatly strengthened by corroborative tes- 
timony presented by distinct phyla of animals. Re- 
stricting myself here to Mammalia, I will enumerate a 
number of cases where the same structures have ap- 
peared in distinct lines of descent under similar me- 
chanical conditions, a phenomenon already referred to 
on page 72 under the name of Homoplassy. 

Before reviewing the subject, I cite what is the 
most remarkable example of homoplassy in the Mam- 
malia which has yet come to the knowledge of paleon- 
tologists. Ameghino has discovered in the Cenozoic 
formations of Argentina a group of Ungulata which he 
calls the Litopterna, and which I regard as a suborder 
of the Taxeopoda, allied to the Condylarthra (p. 128). 
Ameghino placed the group under the Perissodactyla, 
but the tarsus and carpus are of a totally different char- 
acter, and indicate an origin from the Condylarthra 
quite independently of that division. The carpal and 
tarsal bones are in linear series, or if they overlap, it is in 


358 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Fig. 112.Feet of Proterotheriide, from Ameghino. 4, fore foot of Proterotherium cavum Ameghino; 


B, C, fore and hind feet of Diadiaphorus majusculus Ameghino ; D. 
crepidatum Ameghino, Much reduced. 


£, fore and hind feet of Thoatherium 


KINETOGENESIS. 359 


a direction the opposite of that which characterizes the 
order Diplarthra (= Perissodactyla and Artiodactyla). 
But the Litopterna present a most remarkable paral- 
lelism to the Perissodactyla in the characters of both 
the feet and the dentition. No genus is known as yet 
which possesses more than three toes before and be- 
hind, and these are of equal length in Macrauchenia 
Owen. In this genus the teeth are not primitive but 
are much modified. The most primitive dentition is 
seen in the genus Proterotherium (Ameghino) where 
the superior molars are tritubercular as in many Con- 
dylarthra. In this genus (Fig. 112, 4), there are three 
toes, but the lateral ones are reduced, about as in the 
Equine genus Anchitherium (p. 148). In the next 
genus, Diadiaphorus Ameghino, the superior molars 
are quadritubercular and crested, while the lateral toes 
are reduced still more, being quite rudimental (Fig. 
112, B, C), as in the equine genera Hippotherium and 
Prothippus (p. 149; Fig. 70). The superior molars 
have not progressed so far as in these genera, but are 
not very different from those of Anchitherium. Inthe 
third and last type (Thoatherium Ameghino), the lat- 
eral digits have disappeared from both fore and hind 
feet (Fig. 112, C, D), so that the condition is that of 
the genus Equus (Fig. 81), but the splints in the 7hoa- 
therium crepidatum Ameghino are even more reduced 
than in the known species of horse. The superior 
molars have not assumed the pattern of the genus 
Equus, but resemble rather those of Macrauchenia, 
and could have been easily derived from those of Dia- 
diaphorus. 

Here we have a serial reduction of the lateral digits 
and their connections with the leg, and increase in the 
proportions of the middle digit and corresponding in- 


360 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


crease in the proximal connections, exactly similar to 
that which took place in the horse-line, in a different 
order of Mammalia. 

In review I now cite as examples of homoplassy: 

First, as regards the development of the tongue- 
and-groove ankle-joint. This has been developed in- 
dependently along four distinct phyla, viz., in the lepo- 
rid Glires, the Carnivora, and the even and odd toed 
Diplarthra. 

Second, the wrist-joint. The faceting of the radial 
surface has appeared independently in the perissodac- 
tyle and artiodactyle lines, but is best developed in the 
latter. Also it appeared independently in the separate 
suoid and bo@id lines in the latter suborder. 

Third, the trochlear crest of the elbow-joint ap- 
peared independently in the perissodactyle and artio- 
dactyle Diplarthra, and in the leporid Glires (the rab- 
bit family). 

Fourth, the round head of the radius appeared in- 
dependently in the lines of the Edentata (ant-eater) 
and Quadrumana, under the stress of supination of 
the hand. 

Fifth, the development of cusps with crescentic sec- 
tion out of cusps with round section has occurred in 
the widely different groups of the multituberculate 
Prototheria, and the selenodont Artiodactyla. In the 
former the crescents are transverse, since the thrust of 
the teeth in use is longitudinal; in the latter they are 
longitudinal, since the thrust of the jaws is transverse. 

Sixth, the deep plication and hypsodénty of molars 
appeared independently in the Glires, Tiliodonta, Pro- 
boscidia, Sirenia, Perissodactyla, and Artiodactyla; 
and probably in the Edentata and Toxodontia. 

Seventh, increase in the length of the legs has en- 


KINETOGENESIS. 361 


sued in the Marsupialia, Glires (Lepus, Dolichotis, 
Dipus), Carnivora, Ungulata, Quadrumana. : 

Eighth, reduction of digits has occurred under sim- 
ilar conditions in Marsupialia, Glires, Insectivora, 
Carnivora, Ungulata. 

Ninth, the atrophy of the ulna and fibula occur in 
the distinct lines of the Perissodactyla and Artiodac- 
tyla, and the atrophy of the fibula in the leporid 
Glires ; all in limbs which function in the most rapid 
progression. 

Further confirmation of the law of kinetogenesis is 
to be found in those cases where different structures 
appear in different parts of the skeleton of the same 
individual animal, in direct correspondence with the 
different mechanical conditions to which these parts 
have been subjected. Examples: the diverse modifi- 
cations of the articulations of the limbs in consequence 
of the uses to which they have been put, in mammals 
which excavate the earth with one pair of limbs only; 
as in the anterior limbs of the fossorial Edentata, In- 
sectivora, and Glires. The reduction of the number 
of the digits in the posterior limb only when this is 
extensively used for rapid progression, as in leaping: 
this is seen in the kangaroo and jerboas, in the orders 
Marsupialia and Glires. 

The development of a dental structure of premolars 
identical with that of the molars, from a different struc- 
tural origin, in the Perissodactyla. 

From the preceding facts I have inferred that in 
biologic evolution, as in ordinary mechanics, édentical 
causes produce tdentical results. 


362 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


vil.A HYPOTHESIS OF THE ORIGIN OF THE DIVISIONS OF 
THE VERTEBRATA. 


In order to estimate the part which has been 
played by the movements of the Vertebrata in chang- 
ing their environment in past geologic ages, we have to 
rely principally on inferences derived from the present 
physical characteristics of the earth. Formerly, as 
now, conditions of temperature, humidity, soil, shel- 
ter, food, etc., were avoided or appropriated by ani- 
mals, through their capacity for moving from place to 
place. What concerns us chiefly here, is the effects 
on their structure produced by the movements of Ver- 
tebrata. In examining this question I will take it up 
in systematic order, so as to observe whether kineto- 
genesis has been the principal or only a subordinate 
agency in the evolution of this branch of the animal 
kingdom. 

The most conspicuous index of the serial succes- 
sion of the vertebrate classes, is, as has been already 
remarked, the circulatory system. The modifications 
of this system have been immediately connected with 
those of the method of respiration, which the exigen- 
cies of the environment induced in vertebrates. The 
existence of branchial arteries and veins dates from 
the earliest vertebrate, if not from prevertebrate life. 
They are already established in the Tunicata, and con- 
tinued throughout the rising scale in diminished num- 
bers, so long as Vertebrata were exclusively aquatic 
in their modes of life. When at the close of the De- 
vonian system the land masses assumed great propor- 
tions in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, 
it is probable that many fishes were entangled in shal- 


KINETOGENESIS. 363 


low water, which rapidly freshened, and ultimately 
were desiccated, and respiration by the swallowing of 
air into the alimentary canal began to take the place 
of respiration by gills. It is well known that respira- 
tion by this means may be carried on by fishes of va- 
rious genera, e. g. Cobitis; and Professor Gage has 
shown that the same habit exists in Batrachia and in 
certain tortoises (Tronychide). In the middle Car- 
boniferous shales tracks of land animals occur, and 
the bones of Batrachia abound in the coal measures. 
Already in the Permian these Batrachia are accompa- 
nied by numerous Reptilia, and air breathers of ter- 
restrial habits had become numerous on the earth. 
The habit of holding in the esophagus large quan- 
tities of air while engaged in seeking food in foul 
water, or on land, on the part of vertebrates which 
normally oxygenated the blood by means of gills, was 
probably the mechanical cause of the development of 
a pouch, and afterwards of a diverticulum of the 
cesophagus, which became ultimately a swim-bladder 
oralung. In vertebrates in which a return to aquatic 
life became necessary, it became the former; in those 
which remained for a shorter or longer period of time 
on land it became the latter.! It is noteworthy that 
among fresh-water fishes generally, the swim-bladder 
is more complex than among marine forms, showing’ 
that the varying conditions of shore and fresh-water 
life have been mainly responsible for its development. 
The development of a lung at once produced a 
change in the uses to which the various branchial 
arches were put. The posterior, which supply the 
lung, would be subjected to greater pressure owing to 
the increased blood supply demanded by the lung, 


1This view is adopted by C. Morris, American Naturalist, 1892, p. 975. 


364 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


and a correspondingly diminished pressure would be 
experienced by the now unused branchial portions of 
the bows. The first would retain the importance of its 
basal portion, as the source of the carotids, while the 
middle arches would continue their existence as the 
bases of the central dorsal aorta. The loss of the right 
aorta-root in Mammalia was probably due to the fact 
that the great arteries which supply the digestive sys- 
tem are primitively branches of the left aorta-root, as 
they are to-day in the crocodiles and in many of the 
Batrachia. The right aorta-root disappeared through 
disuse. Probably in the immediate ancestors of the 
birds, as in the crocodiles, the right aorta-root gave 
off the carotides and the subclaviz. As the birds de- 
mand an excessive blood-supply for the fore limbs, we 
have here probably the reason why the right root re- 
mained in this subclass. 

The next index of successional development in Ver- 
tebrata is the brain. Our belief that use under stimu- 
lus has been the cause of its successive growth, can 
only be based on the analogy of our own experiences 
in the matter of education. No part of the human 
organism is so susceptible to stimuli as the nervous 
system, and the marvellous effects on faculty of con- 
tinued exercise are well known to everybody. Since 
the changes of mental states are necessarily due to 
corresponding structural changes no one will find in 
ignorance of the mechanics of brain-evolution a serious 
obstacle to believing that it has taken place under the 
influence of the innumerable stimuli always present to 
animal life. 

It is in the skeleton that we have the actual record 
and evidence of the effect of movement on structure. 
It must be remembered in this connection that skeletal 


KINETOGENESIS. 365 


and dental tissues exhibit the phenomena of nutrition 
and waste (metabolism), common to all living organic 
matter. Hence even the hardest osseous tissues are 
plastic and are subject to mechanical influences to a 
degree which is not possible to dead matter of equal 
density. 

Fundamental differences between Vertebrata are 
displayed by their organs of movement, but before 
specially considering these I will refer briefly to cer- 
tain other fundamental characters displayed by the 
skull. In advancing from the fishes to the Mammalia 
we observe a successive consolidation of the mandibu- 
lar arch, and of its mode of connection with the cra- 
nium. The mandibular arch in its entirety displays in 
the fishes a segmented condition, generally compar- 
able to that which characterizes the branchial arches. 
Among Batrachians and Reptilia various degrees oi 
fixation of its suspensor (hyomandibular, quadrate) to 
the cranium exist, and in some of them it is closely 
united by immovable suture. The complete fusion 
with the squamosal seen in the Mammalia is its final 
status. The segmentation of the mandibular portion 
of the arch seems, from the discoveries of Ameghino, 
to have continued among some of’ the Lower Eocene 
mammals, but that finally disappeared, so that in the 
modern mammals the movable mandibular arch con- 
sists of a single element on each side. In this history 
we see an instance of the progressive codssification of 
parts, which results from the constant strain of use, of 
which many other normal and abnormal examples are 
known. This use is the act of mastication. Where 
there is no mastication, and the jaws are used only as 
prehensile organs, this codssification does not occur, 
as, for instance, in the snakes. In this most special- 


366 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


ized and modern type of Reptilia, the segmentation is 
complete. 

The segmentation of the limbs in the Vertebrata is 
a simple mechanical problem. Paleontology and em- 
bryology concur in proving that the limbs originated 
in primitive folds in the external integument, and that 
their connection with the internal skeleton was of later 
accomplishment, has been shown by Wiedersheim. 
At first free, they sought points of support on the 
skeleton, but did not lose their free mobility when 
this contact was attained. Appropriately to the me- 
chanical conditions of rigidity and flexibility neces- 
sary to their use in a fluid medium, they were orig- 
inally composed of slender rods which were segmented 
by interruptions at suitable points. The articulations 
of the fin-rays of fishes have been made the subject 
of an interesting research by Ryder, who finds them 
to be fractures, due to flexures during motion in the 
water medium.! The limb of land vertebrates (the 
chiropterygium) was derived from one of the forms of 
fins (rhipidopterygium) of water vertebrates. This is 
the simple type of primitive fin displayed by the Pale- 
ozoic Teleostomi of the superorder Rhipidopterygia. 
Whether the subdivisions of the chiropterygium, the 
propodial, metapodial, and phalangeal bones, etc., 
were divided from the primitive branches of the archi- 
pterygium, as held by Gegenbaur, or whether they 
have developed by sprouting from a simple axial series 
of segments, as held by Baur, or whether, as I have 
suggested, it is a derivation from the rhipidopterygian 
type of paired fin, is not yet decided. In either case, 
the limbs of the first land animals were segmented and 
flexible at the joints between the segments. The ne- 


1 Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 1889, p. 547. 
& 


KINETOGENESIS. 367 


cessities of such limbs are twofold: first, to serve as 
supports when at rest or in progression ; second, to be 
applied to the body in protection from enemies, or in 
aiding the functions of feeding, reproduction, etc. 
The first function requires principally mobility at the 
point of connection with the body. The second, flexi- 
bility at some point on the shaft of the limb. The two 
kinds of movements in question would conserve two 
principal points of flexure, and these would be for the 
fore limb, just what we find, the shoulder and elbow 
joints; and for the hind limbs, the hip and knee joints. 
The two median joints are directed in opposite ways, 
the elbow backwards and the knee forwards. This 
diversity is clearly due to the diverse positions of the 
functioning regions. The opposite extremities of the 
alimentary canal, the posterior including the exits of 
the urogenital organs, requires that the fore limbs 
should bend forwards, and the posterior limbs back- 
wards. And the constantly recurring necessity for the 
exercise of these flexures must necessarily have devel- 
oped the appropriate articulations in preference to all 
others. The terminal flexure, that of the wrist or 
ankle, has been evidently due to a similar mechanical 
cause, viz., the flexure due to pressure of the weight 
of the body on the terminal segments when in contact 
with earth. The distal segments are the most slender 
in all types, and least able to maintain a linear direc- 
tion under pressure, hence, they have flexed easily and 
thus the line of separation between leg and foot had 
its origin. The ankle and wrist in the Batrachia Uro- 
dela is still a mere flexure. 

Mr. Herbert Spencer has endeavored to account for 
the origin of the segmentation of muscles into myo- 
tomes, and the division of the sheath of the notochord 


368 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


into vertebre, by supposing it to be due to the lateral 
swimming movements of the fishes, which first exhibit 
these structures.! With this view various later authors 
have agreed, and IJ have offered some additional evi- 
dence of the soundness of this position with respect to 
the vertebral axis of Batrachia,? and the origin of limb 
articulations.’ It is true that the origin of segmenta- 
tion in the vertebral column of the true fishes and the 
Batrachia turns out to have been less simple in its pro- 
cess than was suggested by Mr. Spencer, but his gen- 
eral principle holds good, now that paleontology has 
cleared up the subject. 

The Echinodermata, Mollusca, Arthropoda, and 
Vertebrata possess external or internal calcareous or 
chitinous skeletons for the most part. The lower forms 
of all these branches, however, are more or less deficient 
in this kind of protection, and embryology indicates 
that all of them are the descendants of the Vermes or 
worms, which are mostly without such hard supports 
and protections. Whether this be demonstrated or 
not, we have plenty of evidence to show that the prim- 
itive Vertebrata were without hard skeletons, and that 
their bodies were composed internally and externally 
of perfectly flexible tissues. 

If we now imagine that either the integuments, or 
an axial rod, of a worm-like animal has become the seat 
of a calcareous or chitinous deposit, it is evident that 
the movements of the animal in swimming or creeping 
must have interrupted the deposit at definite points of 
its length. The lateral flexure of the body would be 
restricted to certain points, and the intervening spaces 


1 Principles of Biology, 1873, pp. 198-204. 
2 Origin of the Fittest, 1887, p. 305. 
3 Mechanical Causes of Origin of Hard Parts of Mammalia, 1889, p. 163. 


KINETOGENESIS. 369 


would become the seat of the deposit. At the lines of 
interruption joints would be formed, and if the move- 
ments were habitually symmetrical, these interruptions 
would be equidistant. In this way the well-known 
segmentation of the external skeletons of Arthropoda, 
and the internal skeletons of Vertebrata would be 
formed. We have more detailed evidence that this 
has been the case. Thus the segmentation of the os- 
seous sheath of the chorda dorsalis in both primitive 
fishes and batrachians has been accomplished in wedge- 
shaped tracts precisely as may be observed in the fold- 
ing of a tolerably stiff sleeve of a coat which ensheathes 
the arm, under the influence of lateral flexures. The 
wedge-shaped tracts are superior and inferior, the 
apices directed towards each other. Seen from the 
side they form two wedges with their apices together, 
and their bases one up and the other down. Now, if 
a person who wears a coat of rather thick material will 
examine the folds of his sleeve as they are produced 
on the inner side of his arm, he will see a figure nearly 
like that of the segments of the vertebral column de- 
scribed. The folds will correspond to the sutures, and 
the interspaces to the bony segments. He will find 
that the spaces are lens-shaped, or, when viewed in 
profile, wedge-shaped, with the apices together. This 
arrangement results from the necessary mechanics of 
flexure to one side. In flexure of a cylinder like the 
sleeve, or like a vertebral column, the shortest curve 
is along the line of the greatest convexity of the cylin- 
der. Here is the closest folding of the sheath, and 
here, consequently, the lines of fold in soft material, 
or interruption in hard material, will converge and 
come together. That is just what they do in both the 


370 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


sleeve and the rhachitomous vertebral column, the 
only difference being that in the animal it is exhib- 


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ited on both sides, 
and on the sleeve 
on only one side. 
This difference is, 
of course, due to 
the fact that the 
animal can bend 
himself in both di- 
rections, while the 
arm only bends in 
one direction. 

It results from 
the above obser- 
vations that the 
structure of the 
rhachitomous ver- 
tebral column Aas 
been produced by 
the movements of 
the body from side 
to side, as in swim- 
ming, during the 
process of the de- 
posit of mineral ma- 
tertalin and around 
the chorda dorsa- 
lis.? , 

See figures 113 
to 114@ where the 
coat-sleeve is com- 


pared with the ‘“‘rhachitomous” vertebrz of primitive 


1See American Naturalist, January, 1884. 
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372 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


fishes (Merospondyli1) and Batrachia (Rhachitomi). 
Such was the origin of the segmentation in the primi- 
tive sharks, Pleuracanthus, whose structure has been 
pointed out by Sauvage, and Hybodus, whose charac- 
ters have been demonstrated by Smith Woodward. 
The segmented (or rhachitomous, as I have termed it,) 
condition may be then regarded as the primitive one of 
the osseous column in the Vertebrata. From the rha- 
chitomous column two divergent lines have arisen as 
already remarked (pp. 89,209). The inferior segment 
has been retained in the fish-batrachian line, whence I 
have termed their vertebre ‘‘intercentral,” while these 
bodies have disappeared or become rudimental in the 
higher Vertebrata.. The pleurocentra (Figs. 113-1142, 
c, pl.) have, on the other hand, developed downwards, 
and, mesting below, have formed the effective centrum 
of the vertebra. Hence, in the Monocondylia and 
Mammalia the vertebre are ‘‘central.” 

The Reptilia display a greater variety of vertebral 
articulation than any of the classes of Vertebrata. 
After the primitive biconcave (amphiccelous) type was 
abandoned, the two principal types assumed are the 
ball and socket (proccelous and opisthoccelous), and 
the plane (amphiplatyan). In those families in which 
the body is more or less in contact with the ground, 
owing to the absence, shortness, or position of the 
limbs (Lacertilia, Ophidia), the vertebral bodies ex- 
hibit the ball-and-socket articulation, while in types 
with longer limbs which supported the body in pro- 
gression, so that the latter never reached the ground 
(Dinosauria), the articulations are plane. The ball-and- 
socket articulation may be inferred to have been pro- 


1Zittel, Handbuch der Paleontologie, I11., p. 138, 1887, where this charac- 
ter is first clearly pointed out in fishes. 


KINETOGENESIS. 373 


‘ 


duced by vermiform movements which utilize points of 
resistance on the earth as aids to progression, while the 
plane articulation has probably resulted from the per- 
sistence of the fixed relation which is appropriate to a 
body which should be relieved by the legs of all share 
in movements necessary to progression. That this 
position is correct is sustained by the fact that the cer- 
vical vertebrz of various reptiles and mammals which 
have plane dorsal vertebre have the ball-and-socket 
structure. This is probably due to the constant flex- 
ures to which that part of the column has been sub- 
jected, as compared with the fixity of the dorsal re- 
gion. 

Owing to the comparatively advanced state of our 
knowledge of the phylogeny of the Mammalia (Chap- 
ter II.), this class furnishes especial opportunities for 
the study of kinetogenetic evolution. But our knowl- 
edge is not yet sufficiently complete to enable us to 
account on mechanical grounds for the origin of all 
the characters which distinguish all its subdivisions. 
This being the case, I have not presented the subject 
in taxonomic order, but have contented myself with 
offering it in the order of evidential value. I have first 
described certain cases where the action of kinetogen- 
esis is self-evident. This has been followed by the 
presentation of cases where the evidence amounts to a 
high degree of probability. 

Referring now to the table of definitions of the or- 
ders of Mammalia on pages 127-128, I will go over the 
characters serzatim, and show how far our knowledge 
warrants us in giving a kinetogenetic explanation of . 
their origin. No mechanical cause can be at present 
assigned for the loss of the coracoid and episternal 
bones in the Eutheria. In the Eutheria the presence 


374. PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


of the marsupial bones of the Didelphia is a survival, 
and it may be that their absence in the Monodelphia 
is due to disuse, on the withdrawal of strain on the 
abdominal walls which followed the abandonment of 
the oviparous habit of the Prototheria, and the young- 
bearing habit of the Marsupialia. The very consider- 
able weight actually borne by existing forms and prob- 
able weight carried by extinct forms will probably 
account for the development of these bones through 
strain on the prepubic cartilage. The perforate palate 
is a reptilian survival, and the closure of the fonta- 
nelles may have been due to the increased strain due 
to the increased energy of mastication which early en- 
sued, owing to the increased size and specialization of 
the molar teeth. Of the three divisions of the Mono- 
delphia, the Mutilata, Unguiculata, and Ungulata, 
the Unguiculata possess modifications of a character 
of ungual phalanges inherited from the Reptilia, while 
the other two groups have experienced still greater 
modification. The limbs of the Mutilata display the 
result of disuse as to the posterior ones, and special 
use as to the anterior, as I have already pointed out. 
The Sirenia display a less degree of modification than 
the Cetacea. The hoofs of the Ungulata may well 
have assumed their laterally expanded and transverse 
forms by the extreme pressure and impact on the 
earth, incident to their function as supports. 

The origins of most of the dental characters which 
characterize the orders of Mammalia have already been 
referred to mechanical causes, and have been already 
treated of. The same is true of tarsal and carpal 
characters, which are of so much importance among 
the Ungulata. 

The characters enumerated on page 139 as indicat- 


KINETOGENESIS. 375 


ing progressive modification in time have also been 
mainly accounted for on mechanical grounds. 


5. OBJECTIONS TO THE DOCTRINE OF KINETOGENESIS 


It has been objected that Neo-Lamarckians are 
self-contradictory and illogical in their defense of the 
doctrine of the development of structures by use, or 
by motion. It is asserted that they believe that stimuli 
of different kinds produce similar results, and that 
stimuli of the same kind may produce different re- 
sults. The charge that Neo-Lamarckians hold those 
views is correct, but it is not correct to suppose that 
they are illogical or self-contradictory. This criticism 
is one of those generalities which will not bear exam- 
ination, while the doctrine of kinetogenesis will bear 
examination. 

Thus ‘it has been experimentally shown that bone 
irritation will produce both bone deposit and bone ab- 
sorption, according to the degree of irritation. Mode- 
rate irritation produces deposit, and greater irritation 
produces absorption. Hence it is that both impact 
and strain, or pressure and stretching, will elongate a 
bone, by stimulating growth, if not excessive. We 
have the illustrations in the elongation of ligaments 
and cartilages and their ossification under stretching, 
and the shortening of both in absence of use, from 
which we may infer their lengthening under use. The 
continued lengthening of the limbs and teeth of the 
higher Mammalia, in the course of geologic time, is 
an illustration of the effect of continued impact and 
transverse strain; while the lengthening of the limb 
bones of the sloth, and of the tarsal bones of many 
bats, is a consequence of longitudinal strain. 


376 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


The differing directions of the elements entering 
into the articulations of the limbs of Mammalia may 
be cited in illustration of the supposed inconsistency 
of supposing them all to be the result of impact and 
strain. Thus most of the condyles are directed distad, 
but the heads of the humerus and femur, and the prox- 
imal surfaces of the carpus and tarsus are directed 
proximad (except the trochlear groove of the astraga- 
lus when present). So far as regards the distal ends 
of the radius and tibia (fore arm and leg) I have 
pointed out that here dense layers disposed longitudi- 
nally impinge on a similar layer disposed transversely, 
with the natural consequence the latter has yielded to 
the excess of impact so produced. The direct relation 
of the sculpture of the surfaces concerned, to the 
lengthening of the foot and increase of speed of the 
animal, and hence increase of force of impact, leads 
irresistibly to this conclusion. As regards the con- 
vexity of the heads of the humerus and femur, or rather 
the concavity of the corresponding surfaces of the 
scapula and acetabulum the explanation has been al- 
ready given. Henke was apparently the first to call 
attention to the fact that the concavity and convexity 
of the articular surfaces is directly related to the posi- 
tions of the insertions of the muscles which move them. 
He shows that a concave surface is developed at the 
extremity which is nearest to the muscular insertion, 
while the convex surface is developed on the extremity 
which is most remote from its muscular insertion. 
Thus is accounted for the apparently contradictory 
evidence of the limb articulations mentioned. In some 
cases at least, as those of the glenoid cavities of the 
scapula, ilium, and phalanges, the muscular insertions 
are so near to their borders, as to suggest that the 


KINETOGENESIS, 377 


growth of the latter is due to a pulling strain on them, 
as well as to the greater mobility of the element which 
becomes convex, as supposed by Fick. 

It is claimed in the preceding pages, that impacts 
on the extremities of a bone or tooth, gradually in- 
crease its length. It may be hastily supposed that in 
this assumption I derive elongation of the shaft of a 
bone from the same stimulus which produces excava- 
tion and therefore abbreviation of its extremities. In 
the gross this charge is correct; but the position I 
have assumed is defensible, because in detail it is easy 
to perceive that effect of the use of a limb on an ar- 
ticular surface of a bone is quite distinct from that 
which it has on the shaft. At the articular faces we 
have discontinuity; and therefore friction ; in the shaft 
we have only the concussions produced by impact, to- 
gether with some torsion strain. That the former 
movement stimulates the development and activity of 
the osteoclasts has been shown by Koelliker; that the 
latter may stimulate the activity of osteoblasts is ren- 
dered highly probable from the facts of pathological 
anatomy. These show that a very slight modification 
of stimulus is sufficient to change the building cells 
into the absorbent cells and back again. For the same 
reason belief in the elongation of bones under stretch- 
ing strain may not be inconsistent with belief in an 
elongation under impacts. 

Cary makes specific objections against the kineto- 
genesis of the articulations of the mammalian skele- 
ton.! After a study of the carpus of the Eocene peris- 
sodactyle genus Palzosyops he concludes that the 
trapezoid bone is too small to express properly the di- 
rect result of purely mechanical causes. He says that 


lAmerican Journal of Morphology, 1892, p. 305. 


378 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION 


in reaching this result he has applied geometrical meth- 
ods. ‘First, the volume of the bones was got at. 
Next the area of the bearing surfaces and their inclina- 
tion to the digits were measured. Then giving to the 
thrust of each metacarpal a value proportional to its 
volume, the distribution of that thrust can by resolu- 
tion and composition of forces, be traced through the 
foot, and the pressure on each surface and bone ap- 
proximately obtained.” Further than this the author 
does not explain how he reached the result that the 
trapezoid is too small. It is quite essential that this 
demonstration should be given if we are expected to 
accept his conclusion. An essential part of the prob- 
lem is, however, unnoticed by Mr. Cary; and that is 
the condition of the trapezoid in the reptilian ances- 
tors of the Mammalia. The phylogeny of an element 
must be known, since it furnishes the ‘‘ physical basis” 
of the problem. The fact is that the trapezium, trape- 
zoides, and the magnum owe their small size to their 
being the only carpal elements which have not been 
produced by the fusion of two or more primitive ele- 
ments of the batrachian and reptilian carpus. The 
trapezoides moreover occupies a place in a longitudinal 
series of three elements in the primitive carpus, while 
the trapezium forms one of a series of only two ele- 
ments. For similar reasons the cuneiforms are the 
smallest elements of the tarsus. 

Mr. Cary then proceeds to criticize the explana- 
tions offered by Professor Osborn and myself, in ac- 
counting for the origin of certain structures. He finds 
our explanations to be self-contradictory, and that we 
also contradict each other. Osborn has supposed that 
the conules of the molars are produced by friction of 
the molars of opposite series on each other. I have 


KINETOGENESIS. 379 


expressed the opinion that the shear of the sectorial 
teeth of Carnivora was produced by lateral friction 
during vertical movement of the lower tooth on the 
upper. Ihave also asserted that the forms of facets 
of limb articulations are due to pressure. Mr. Cary 
sees here the attempt to explain the origin of totally 
different structures through identical mechanical pro- 
cesses, and believes that the attempt is a failure. 
Were the conditions of the problems alike, as Mr. 
Cary thinks them to be, he would have good reason 
for his opinion. But the conditions in the three cases 
are entirely different, and our author’s conclusion is 
due to neglect of the elementary facts of the proposi- 
tion. 

The development of conules at the points indicated 
by Professor Osborn, has been supposed by him to 
be due to friction between existing ridges of enamel 
which cross each other when in action, at the points 
in question. In the case of the development of the 
sectorial shear, the faces between which the shearing 
motion takes place are smooth, and without ridges or 
crests. Hence the entire surface receives a homo- 
geneous friction. In the third case, that of the foot 
articulations, there is no friction, but there is pressure 
which when abruptly applied in movement becomes 
impact. There is really no parity between the three 
cases. 

The author of this paper also thinks that the ex- 
planation of the elongation of bones through use of 
different kinds is not a permissible hypothesis. He 
cites my attempt to account for the elongation of the 
leg bones of higher mammals through impact-stimulus ; 
and of other limb bones of other mammals through 
stretching. But he does not prove that similar results 


380 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


may not flow from mechanical stresses applied in dif- 
ferent ways. I suppose that any mechanical stress 
which determines nutritive processes to a part, will in- 
crease its size, ceteris paribus; and the stretch as well 
as the impact has this effect. I have in fact shown, in 
the observations already cited (pp. 277-279), on the 
production of artificial elbow joints, that osseous de- 
posit is stimulated by pulling strain as well as by push- 
ing or impact. 

In concluding, Mr. Cary admits one of the two con- 
tentions of the Neo-Lamarckians in his two closing 
propositions. He says ‘‘ Plasticity of bone, using the 
word plasticity not in a physical sense merely, but to 
include absorption under pressure, will probably ac- 
count for much structure in the foot and elsewhere, 
especially the connection with the joints, and in the 
fields of variation and correlation.” In the second 
proposition he says that facts have been adduced by 
him which are inconsistent with the theory that the 
size of bones has been increased by the stimulus they 
receive, and with the theory that regions of growth are 
determined by regions of pressure and strain. ‘‘The 
testimony of the literature as to the latter point,” he 
says, ‘‘is conflicting.” I have shown that the supposed 
conflict is due to a misunderstanding on the part of 
the author of this paper. The proposition that pres- 
sure does not affect growth is in contradiction to the 
admission made by the author in his first proposition, 
where he admits that pressure determines structure ; 
for in such change of structure there is always growth. 
Finally Mr. Cary remarks ‘‘That race changes follow 
those produced in the individual life, or that they are 
directly caused by their mechanical surroundings, I 
do not think it has been satisfactorily shown.” The 


KINETOGENESIS. 381 


fact that the characters of bone structure admitted by 
Mr. Cary to have had a mechanical origin appear in 
the young before birth, is evidence that race characters 
are produced, in other words, that they are inherited. 

Another objection proposed by Tomes, and quoted 
by Poulton and Wallace with approval, has reference 
to the kinetogenesis of teeth of Mammalia as described 
by Ryder and myself. Tomes asserts that it is quite im- 
possible that the crowns of the teeth could have been 
altered by mechanical impacts and strains, since their 
form is determined in the recesses of the dental grooves, 
entirely removed from all the mechanical influences 
which affect the external surfaces of the jaws. But 
the observations of Koelliker and others show that 
osteoclasts are as active in dental as in ordinary osse- 
ous tissue. It is altogether probable that the modifi- 
cations of dental structure have been produced by 
strain and friction under use in the adult, precisely as 
in the skeleton, and that the share that the unerupted 
crowns have in the process is that of inheritance only, 
as in the case of the skeleton. That teeth deposit den- 
tine as process of repair in adult mammals is well 
known, and this repair is in direct relation to use. 
That the effects of dental wear are inherited is proven 
by the fact cited by Tomes and Wallace. 

Another objection to the doctrine of kinetogenesis 
which has been made by some of the Neo-Darwinians 
is, that if growth under stimulus be true, how can it 
have limits, so long as the stimulus of use exists. “In 
other words, what is to prevent, in the case of the 
vertebrate skeleton, of an indefinite increase in the 
length of the legs, of the teeth, and of their cusps, etc. 
The answer to this objection will vary more or less 
with the part of the structure considered. In general, 


382 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


however, it may be assumed that stimulus is stress 
due to a want of harmony between an organism and 
its environment, and that kinetogenesis is the result of 
the effort of the organism to adjust itself. So soon as 
equilibrium is attained, the stress of stimulus ceases 
or is much reduced, and evolution in this direction 
ceases. Such equilibrium is attained when the mechan- 
ism of an animal is sufficient for the satisfaction of its 
needs. When this is the case severe exertion is no 
longer necessary, and a period of easy use follows 
which is sufficient to maintain the mechanism in work- 
ing condition. In the case where circumstances should 
become so favorable for the easy satisfaction of the 
necessities of life, as to call for little or no exertion, 
degeneracy of the organism is sure to follow. The 
well-known phenomena of degeneracy from disuse 
show that a large part, and in some cases all, of the 
stimulus of use, is only sufficient for the maintenance 
of the organism in working condition, and that there is 
no surplus to be expended in progressive evolution. 

It is however true that some organs are stimulated 
to excessive growth by active use. Such are some of 
the teeth, which, if not worn at the crown by the op- 
position of those of the opposite jaw, soon grow to an 
inconvenient length. This occurs in the hypsodont 
molars of horses and artiodactyles, and in the pris- 
matic molars and incisors of Glires. Hypsodonty in 
general is an illustration of continuous growth induced 
by long-continued stimulus in those orders of Mam- 
malia, and in the Toxodontia and Proboscidia. The 
excessive growth of the canines in the South American 
saber-tooth tiger, and of the incisors of the mammoth, 
are cases where the energy of growth has not subsided 
in time to prevent excess. 


KINETOGENESIS. 383 


Several years ago Prof. August Miiller and I called 
attention nearly simultaneously to the probability that 
many of the forms of the reproductive organs of plants, 
especially the flowers, are due to the strains and other 
effects produced by their use by insects. Rev. George 
Henslow has written a book in which this subject is 
set forth in detail.! It is impossible to demonstrate 
this point with the same certainty as the kinetogenetic 
origin of the articulations of the vertebrate skeleton 
and their characters, owing to the absence of paleon- 
tologic evidence. Henslow, however, says: ‘‘ When 
we find innumerable coincidences all tending in one 
direction, coupled with an indefinite capacity for vary- 
ing in response to forces in all parts of plants, I still 
maintain that [this] theory does not utterly break 
down,” as asserted by Mr. Wallace.* Wallace argues 
that since many regular flowers have been subject to 
the irritation of insects and have not become irregu- 
lar, there is no reason to suppose that this is the cause 
of the irregularity in question. To this Henslow re- 
plies:? [Mr. Wallace] ‘will see that existing regular 
flowers being mostly terminal, have no lower petals at 
all, but are so situated as to offer access to insects 
from all points of the compass. Moreover, when a 
plant with normally irregular flowers (which are always 
situated close to the axis, so that insects can only en- 
ter them in one way) produces a blossom in a terminal 
position (as foxglove, larkspur, horse-chestnut, etc., 
often do), it at once becomes quite regular.” This 
change may be brought about artificially, for, says 


1The Origin of the Floral Structures by Insect and Other Agencies. Inter- 
national Science Series, Vol. LXIV. 


2Natural Science, 1894, p. 178. 
38Natural Science, 1894, p. 262. 


384 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Henslow, ‘flowers normally irregular in nature often 
revert to their ancestral regular forms under cultiva- 


tion in the absence of insects, and then come true from 
seed, as the Gloxinias.” 


CHAPTER VII—NATURAL SELECTION. 


ATURAL SELECTION is the process of dis- 
crimination of variations, by which those which 
are most in harmony with the environment survive. It 
is, in short, as expressed by Spencer, ‘‘the survival of 
the fittest.” Fitness is of various kinds, and is only 
determined by the nature of the environment. The 
success of a variety which appears in aquatic sur- 
roundings will depend on characters different from 
those which bring success in a forest. Variations 
which favor survival and increase among carnivorous 
animals differ from those useful to the life of herbivo- 
rous forms. So survival in human society depends on 
characters different from those which secure the same 
result among the lower animals, etc. It is thus evi- 
dent that natural selection is of many kinds and that 
forms survive for various reasons ; and it is hence of 
universal application. The reasons for survival may 
be divided into those which depend for survival on the 
relations of a type to the non-living environment, and 
those which depend on the living. The former may be 
divided into those which are passive and those which 
are active. The particular influences may be imper- 
fectly enumerated as follows: 


386 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Non-living environment. 
a, Passive. 
Isolation of areas ; continuity of areas; building material ; 
food ; place of concealment; temperature; humidity. 


aa, Active. 
Pressure of earth, water, and air. 


II. Living environment. 

Food ; reproductive potency; sexual selection; digestive 
and other physiological power; muscular strength; su- 
perior weapons and other special mechanisms ; intelli- 
gence. 


I have already (page 4) quoted the language of 
Darwin, where he states that the supposition that nat- 
ural selection is a cause of the origin of variations is a 
mistake. From the nature of selection, Darwin’s po- 
sition thus expressed, is self-evidently sound. The 
attempt has, however, been made to apply the term 
selection to the efficient cause of all variation, and to 
divide its exhibitions into two kinds, natural and arti- 
ficial selection. If the primary assumption involved 
in this position is illogical, the dual division proposed 
is absurd. As may be readily seen in the table in the 
preceding paragraph, in which the factors of natural 
selection are enumerated, the conditions necessary to 
selection are mostly identical, whether imposed by na- 
ture or by the hand of man; i. e., whether natural or 
artificial. The physiological effects of food, tempera- 
ture, exercise, etc., do not differ, whether due to nat- 
ural conditions, or to the influence of man. The ob- 
servation of man’s influence is indeed especially in- 
structive in increasing our knowledge of the effects of 
natural causes, since in the former case we have the 
process in action within our control, while in ‘the latter 
case it is not. 

The subject of natural selection has been ably 


NATURAL SELECTION, 387 


treated by Darwin, Wallace, and other writers, and it 
is one on which much further research may be profita- 
bly expended. It is the science of adaptations, and 
the name Chorology has been framed for it by Haeckel, 
but the earlier term CEcology is now generally used. It 
was not overlooked by biologists prior to Darwin and 
Wallace, and is stated in general terms by Lamarck in 
his Philosophie Zoologigue, but it was reserved for the 
two authors just mentioned to create the science. I 
shall here only refer to a few aspects of the subject. 

Isolation naturally tends to emphasize any pecu- 
liarities of structure which may harmonize with the 
conditions of the environment, by the barrier which it 
sets up against the entrance and mixture of forms from 
other localities where the environments are more or 
less different, and where the characters are correspond- 
ingly proportionately diverse. Isolation conversely 
prevents the emigration of forms, and the consequent 
mixture with the differing forms of other regions. 
Breeding in and in is produced on a large scale. Geo- 
graphical isolation is a result of the formation and 
population of islands, whether this be accomplished 
by submergence below or by elevation above sea level. 
A noteworthy illustration of the former case is seen in 
the West Indian Islands, which represent the elevated 
regions of a former continent. Here the faunz of the 
respective islands have been separated from each other 
since late Pliocene time. We find that while most of 
the genera of land Vertebrata are generally distributed, 
each island possesses peculiar species. This is even 
true of the birds, whose powers of migration are quite 
sufficient to enable them to pass from island to island. 
The restriction of land mollusca is still greater, several 
islands having genera peculiar to them. 


388 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Isolation is also produced by inequalities of land- 
surface, resulting from the elevation of mountain 
ranges, plateaus, etc. This is well seen in Mexico 
and Central America where the number of species of 
Vertebrata is large, owing to the fact that many of 
them are restricted to very narrow areas bounded by 
impassable barriers. The restriction of species of land 
Mollusca to each of the numerous valleys of the Ha- 
waiian Islands has been made the subject of an espe- 
cial study by Dr. Gulick, who treats of them with 
especial reference to the evolution of their forms. 

The assimilation of inorganic matter necessarily 
preceded that of organic matter, so that this function 
characterized the first organic beings, whether animal 
or plant-like in other respects. Among animals we 
may regard the vegetable feeders as having by a little 
preceded the carnivorous forms. Omnivorous forms 
must have come into existence soon after, and from 
these, both classes of feeders have been from time to 
time recruited ever since. The primitive Vertebrata 
were probably carnivorous, and most of the fishes and 
Batrachia have always been such. Herbivorous forms 
have arisen from time to time among Reptilia, and of 
granivorous birds there are many. The early Mamma- 
lia were divided between omnivorous (Multitubercu- 
lata) and insectivorous types (Protodonta, Pantothe- 
ria); while the higher Mammalia of all kinds were de- 
rived from more or less omnivorous forms (primitive 
Condylarthra and some Creodonta). We may account 
primitive insects to have been largely herbivorous, even 
more than they are at the present time, while Carnivora 
predominate in marine invertebrate life. It is not diffi- 
cult to understand that circumstances of the environ- 
ment would determine the food of animals, and would 


NATURAL SELECTION. 389 


divert omnivorous forms into carnivorous or herbivo- 
rous habits as abundance of food and competition of 
rivals might dictate. 

Sexual selection is of two general classes, that in 
which the male selects, and that in which the female 
determines the result. In the former case the most 
vigorous males, or those in which the mechanisms for 
seizing the females are most effective, propagate their 
kind most successfully. It is well known that in many 
animals, especially the Arthropoda, the males are fur- 
nished with especial organs of prehension. In verte- 
brates similar organs are especially conspicuous in 
some of the Batrachia Salientia. (See p. 65.) 

The species of Arcifera exhibit peculiar structures 
during the breeding season ; either an extension of the 
natatory membrane, or the development of corneous 
plates or spurs, as aids to prehension. There is much 
variety and efficiency displayed in this point (except 
in Bufonide), in especial contrast to the apparent ab- 
sence of all but the weakest modifications among the 
Ranidz. This is in compensation for the structure of 
the sternum, whose lateral halves, being movable on 
each other, offer a slighter basis of resistance for the 
flexor and extensor muscles of the fore limbs of the 
male. In the Firmisternia the halves of the shoulder 
girdle do not overlap below on the middle line, but 
abut against each other, thus preventing compression 
(Fig. 51, page 198). 

While no appendages of the season have been ob- 
served in some Cystignathide, in several genera two 
acute spurs appear.on the superior aspect of the thumb 
and more rarely spur-like tubercles on the breast ; the 
body is sometimes shielded with hardened points on 
the rugosities, or the lip surrounded by an arched 


390 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


series of corneous ruge. In the Leptodactylus penta- 
dactylus Laur. a huge acute process of the metacarpal 
of the thumb, projects inwards. Its apex is covered by 
a horny cap, and it is a formidable grappling-hook to 
aid the male in retaining his hold. There is added to 
this in the same species a horny plate on each side of 
the thorax of the male, from which project three acute 
points. With these fixed in her back and the thumb 
spikes in her breast the females cannot escape. Struc- 
tures like this do not appear in the Firmisternia. 
Here the inferior elements of the scapular arch abut 
against each other, so that the thoracic cavity does 
not contract on pressure, and the possibility of the 
male retaining a firm grip on the female is thereby 
greatly increased. In the Cystignathus pachypus the 
males exhibit a permanent enlargement of the bra- 
chium, dependent on largely developed anterior and 
posterior ale of the humerus. (Vide Ginther, Ann. 
Mag. N. H., 1859.) 

Another kind of male selection is accomplished by 
the combats of males for the possession of the females. 
This is usual in polygamous birds and Mammalia, and 
in some promiscuous species of both. Of the birds the 
Galline form the best known example; and of the 
mammals, most Ungulata, and the eared seals (Otari- 
ide), are illustrations. In this way the weak males 
are eliminated either by death, or by exclusion from 
the opportunity of reproduction. The males in such 
species are armed with spurs, horns, or large teeth, 
except in some of the Perissodactyla, which have 
neither. 

Female selection is seen in another direction. Here 
the male attracts by the superior brilliancy of his colors 
or peculiarity of physical appearance, as well as by 


NATURAL SELECTION. 391 


his notions. The available growth-energy of the male 
being superior to that of the female in most animals, 
his structure is more liable to excess of development 
in useless directions. In many of the Arthropoda, 
especially the Insecta, the males possess processes of 
the head and thorax besides the especially useful pre- 
hensile peculiarities of the limbs. Among Vertebrata 
the male generally possesses the more brilliant colors. 
This is especially noteworthy in fishes and birds. It 
is also frequently the case in lizards, although in one 
genus (Liocephalus) the female has the brighter hues. 
The selection (taking no account of the origin of these 
characters) acts in the probable preference by the 
females for the most brilliant colors and most impres- 
sive forms, thus propagating both, and in the neglect 
of those males in which these characters are not so well 
developed. The plainness of the females aids in their 
concealment and enables them to perform their ma- 
ternal functions in safety. 

The desire of the males to attract the favor of the 
females leads to many peculiar performances among 
birds. The males display their plumage by spreading 
their wings, tail, tail-coverts, etc., and strut and go 
through many antics in the presence of the females. 
Familiar examples are seen in our barnyards in the 
turkeys, peafowls, and pigeons. In the paradise-bird 
the most remarkable exhibitions occur, according to 
Wallace. In song-birds thé male is frequently the only 
or the best songster, and the development of the vocal 
powers resulting from the sexual impulse is most re- 
markable. Among Mammalia the female selection is 
less common than male selection. In the case of 
some of the old world monkeys (Macacus, e. g.) the 
female presents the greater physical indication of ex- 


392 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


citement in the extraordinary development of the nates 
at the season of heat. Mankind, appropriately to the 
high development of the mental powers, is selected 
with reference to qualities of mind as well as with re- 
gard to the physical attractions. Mental advantages 
being equal, beauty is preferred, but beauty is often 
neglected in favor of superior moral and intellectual 
characteristics. Both sexes take part in the selection ; 
in the lower races chiefly the male, while in the higher 
races the choice rests ultimately with the female. It 
is probable that in future civilized mankind will exer- 
cise more care than now in the prevention of marriage 
of persons affected with serious physical and mental 
defects, such as chronic diseases, insanity, alcoholism, 
criminality, etc.; but beyond this, supervisory selec- 
tion cannot go. The supposition which is sometimes 
entertained by some persons, that mankind will ina 
state of higher civilization prefer physical to mental 
perfection, is certainly ill founded. And among men- 
tal qualities, a high value will always be attached to 
those which render social life easiest and most pleasant ; 
the standards of ease and pleasure being innumerable. 

Among the most conspicuous examples of the ac- 
tion of natural selection are to be found those resem- 
blances in color or form between animals and their 
environment which serve to conceal them from ene- | 
mies. Animals possessing such protective appear- 
ances naturally escape the observation of enemies 
which prey on them, while those which do not possess 
them are more readily captured and eaten. Much is to 
be found of interest on this attractive subject in the 
writings of Wallace, Poulton, Beddard, and others. 
The two authors first named ascribe these color and 
form characters to natural selection as a cause. This is, 


NATURAL SELECTION. 393 


however, impossible; yet natural selection has un- 
doubtedly been the cause of their survival. Professor 
Poulton has demonstrated (p. 230) that the protective 
colors in lepidopterous pup are produced directly 
by the influences of light on the nerves of the ani- 
mal and its reflex action on the pigment depository 
process. 

The first objection to the belief that natural selec- 
tion is the primary cause of organic evolution has 
been already stated as follows: ‘‘A selection cannot 
be the cause of those alternatives from which it se- 
lects. The alternatives must be presented before the 
selection can commence.” But the supporters of the 
view that natural selection is the origin of variation 
allege that it produces this result by the continued 
survival of minute differences which are useful, thus 
accumulating variation. That minute advantageous 
differences will secure survival no one can doubt, but 
it must be remembered that the variations which con- 
stitute evolution have been in a vast number of cases 
too minute to be useful. But the general question is 
not affected by the supposition that advantageous va- 
riations may be sometimes minute. Minute or great, 
they have to be assumed in the argument for selec- 
tion; and whether minute or great, they have a def- 
inite cause. 

* ‘ x 

In conclusion of Part II. of this book, I trust that I 
have adduced evidence to show that the stimuli of 
chemical and physical forces, and also molar motion 
or use or its absence, are abundantly sufficient to pro- 
duce variations of all kinds in organic beings. The va- 
riations may be in color, proportions, or details of struc- 
ture, according to the conditions which are present. 


PART IIE 


THE INHERITANCE OF VARIATION. 


) 


PRELIMINARY. 


N THE first section of this book I have endeavored 
to show that variation of character is not promis- 
cuous or multifarious, but that it is limited to certain 
definite directions. That this rule applies to all kinds 
of characters, whether they are of the less fundamen- 
tal kind which distinguish species, or of the more fun- 
damental kind which distinguish the higher divisions. 
In the second section I have endeavored to show 
that many characters, both those of the more super- 
ficial and those of the profounder kinds, are the direct 
result of chemical and physical stimuli, and of molar 
motion or use, or of the absence of the latter or dis- 
use. 

It now remains to ascertain whether the characters 
or variations so produced are inherited ; that is, whether 
characters so acquired are transmitted to succeeding 
generations. Unless this proposition is demonstrated, 
our knowledge of the method of evolution remains in- 
complete, and we must look for some new explana- 
tion of the progressive increments and decrements of 
structure which constitute the history of organic life. 
The present part of this book will be devoted to an 
examination of this question, and to the exposition of 
such laws as may be derived from such examination. 


CHAPTER VIII.—HEREDITY. 


1. THE QUESTION STATED. 


T IS the popular belief that characteristics of par- 
ents are transmitted to their offspring through the 
medium of the reproductive cells. This opinion is 
founded on an infinitude of observations easily made 
on plants, animals, and men, and in fact it is not de- 
nied as a general statement by anybody. It is a fact 
of ordinary observation that many and apparently 
most of the structural characteristics of one generation 
are inherited by its offspring. Not only is this the 
case, but the functionings of organs which depend on 
minute histological peculiarities are inherited. Such 
are points of mental and muscular idiosyncrasy; of 
weakness and strength of all or any of the viscera, 
and consequent tendencies to disease or vigor of spe- 
cial organs. Darwin has collected in his work on the 
Descent of Man numerous instances of the inheritance 
of various tricks of muscular movement of the face, 
hands, and other parts of the body. But it is a fact 
of equally ordinary observation that some peculiarities 
of parents are not, or may not be inherited, and among 
these may be enumerated mutilations and injuries, as 
well as characters which are normal. It is then a 
question of essential importance to ascertain what 


HEREDITY. 399 


kinds of characters are inheritable, and what are not 
inheritable. 

It has been insisted by Weismann and others that 
characters which are newly acquired by an organism 
are not inherited, whether they be products of normal 
or abnormal conditions. In support of this view, he 
points to the early isolation in embryonic life of the 
reproductive cells from the remainder of the organism, 
and their continued isolation during later life, so that 
they are protected from the stimulating influences 
which affect the remainder of the body. He also 
points to the permanence of this isolation of the germ 
plasma from generation to generation, which insures 
only the transmission of those characters which it 
contains, as distinct from those which are found in 
the remaining cells of the organism, which constitute 
the body orsoma. The characters which are inher- 
ited, and which are present at birth are termed con- 
genital, while those which appear in the body under 
the influence of external stimuli are termed acquired. 
The theory of Weismann then is, that the acquired 
characters are not inherited. 

Besides the fact that sporadic injuries and mutila- 
tions of the soma are not inherited, there have been 
cited various cases of the non-inheritance of mutila- 
tions which have been often repeated and for long 
periods of time. Thus the rupture of the hymen in 
human females has not been followed by its abolition. 
The practice of circumcision by the Jews has not re- 
sulted in the disappearance from that race of the por- 
tion of the body thus artificially removed. The con- 
tinued cutting of the hair of men of many races has 
not made it less abundant. The practice of distorting 
the feet of a class of their women by the Chinese has 


400 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


not modified the shape of that part of the structure in 
the race. I have myself cut off the tails of nine suc- 
cessive generations of mice without producing the 
slightest effect on the length of the tails of the tenth. 

Nevertheless such negative evidence only demon- 
strates that such modifications of the structure may 
not be inherited. A single undoubted example of the 
inheritance: of a mutilation would prove that no in- 
surmountable barrier to such inheritance exists. And 
well authenticated examples of such cases are known 
and will be mentioned later on. But it is not with 
mutilations that the paleontologist has to do. The 
rupture of the hymen and circumcision, and most muti- 
lations, can only occur once in the life of the individual, 
and generally they produce no appreciable direct effect 
on his or her metabolic physiology. Moreover, the 
mutilations above cited as not inherited are experi- 
enced by but one sex, except in the case of the tails 
of the mice. The question is widely different with re- 
gard to the parts of the structure in which we observe 
the real differences between organic types. The defi- 
nitions of natural divisions rest to a great extent on 
the diversities displayed by the organs of motion and 
nutrition. Now these are in use in animals during 
most of the hours not spent in sleep. Their move- 
ments are perpetual, and their activities only cease 
with death. It is then quite unreasonable to cite the 
history of mutilations as evidence against the inheri- 
tance of natural characters produced by oft-repeated 
and long continued natural causes. 

It has been shown in Part Second of this book that 
structural characters are produced by use and other 
stimuli to growth. It has also been shown in Part 
First that the characters so produced show a progres- 


HEREDITY. 401 


sive increment or evolution from earlier or later geo- . 
logic periods. There are two possible explanations 
of this phenomenon. The one is that the characters 
of one generation are inherited by the next, which 
adds to them by the activity of the same stimuli which 
gave them origin, thus producing progressive increase 
of growth. The alternative is, that these structural 
characters are produced by each generation for itself. 
It is obvious that the latter hypothesis provides for 
no additional development of a character in one gen- 
eration above another. There are other objections to 
the latter view, but letting these pass for the present, 
it is only necessary to examine the embryonic history 
of animals to show that it is entirely untenable. For 
if some or all of these acquired characters can be 
found present in the early stages of growth, as in the 
egg, the pupa, the fcetus, etc., it becomes clear that 
such acquired characters have’been inherited. That 
such is the fact is abundantly demonstrated by embryo- 
logical researches. This fact alone is sufficient to set 
at rest by an affirmative answer the question as to the 
inheritance of acquired characters. And that this 
answer applies to all time and to all evolution is made 
evident by the fact, which is disclosed by paleontology, 
that all characters now congenital have been at some per- 
tod or another acquired. 


2. EVIDENCE FROM EMBRYOLOGY. 
a. Vertebrata. 


I have already (p. 292) pointed out the gradual 
evolution through mechanical causes of the tongue and 
groove-joints in the Mammalia as exhibited by the 
distal ends of the metapodial bones of the feet where 


402. PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


they articulate with the phalanges. Mr. Carey having 
agreed with me that those have been produced by me- 
chanical causes, he alleges that they are not inherited, 
but are produced by each generation for itself. To 
this Dr. J. L. Wortman remarks as follows: 

‘‘With reference to Mr. Carey’s first proposition 
that the metapodial crests are produced during the life 
of each individual by the necessary interaction of parts, 
it appears to me to bea very simple one indeed. If 
they are produced, by pressure during the lifetime of 
each individual, and are not inherited, then clearly we 
should find the crests absent in new born animals that 
had never walked, and in which the metapodials had 
not been subjected to any impact or pressure what- 
ever. Ihave taken the trouble to examine a number 
of such examples in which the distal ends of the bones 
were entirely cartilaginous, and I find that the keels 
and grooves are as well developed as they are in the 
adult animal. I will cite one case in particular in 
which I happen to know the history completely. Dur- 
ing the past winter, a young hippopotamus was born 
in the Zodlogical Gardens in Central Park, New York, 
and it was stated to have been a premature birth ; the 
animal lived but twenty-four hours, and I was informed 
by the keeper that it never stood upon its feet. An 
examination of the feet shows that the distal ends of 
the metapodials are entirely cartilaginous, and in them 
the keels are as well prefigured in cartilage as they are 
formed in bone in the adult animal. I have also found 
the same to be true of new-born rabbits and guinea- 
pigs. In another case of a young buffalo calf preserved 
in the American Museum Collection, the distal keels 
of the metapodials are complete notwithstanding the 
fact that the epiphyses of all the bones are very im- 


HEREDITY. 403 


perfectly ossified. This evidence, it appears to me, 
effectually disposes of the question of the production 
of these structures during the lifetime of the individ- 
ual. They are as truly inherited as is the number of 
digits or any other important organ in the animal econ- 
omy.” 

Such observations may be repeated indefinitely. 
Thus the astragali of the higher Mammalia are already 
grooved before birth, and are not flat up to that time 
as in their Puerco ancestry. The reduction of digits 
appears very early in foetal life, and the ball and socket 
articulations of the cervical vertebre of the Diplarthra 
are by no means introduced after birth. 

The teeth possess the normal structure of their 
crowns while yet in the alveoli before eruption. In 
some cases the transition from a primitive to a modern 
type of tooth has been observed to take place in the 
embryo. 

Dr. A. von Brunn! has shown that in the embryos 
of the rat, the enamel-producing epithelial layer of the 
molar teeth undergoes a remarkable change at the 
places where the transverse crests of the crowns are 
to appear. Before the enamel layer is deposited, the 
portion of the epithelial layer corresponding to the 
cross-crests undergoes degeneration, as a result of 
which it acquires the character of a stratified squamous 
epithelium. Thus no enamel is laid down on the sum- 
mits of the cross-crests, which present the exposed 
dentine when erupted. Now it is a fact that the crowns 
of the molar teeth of the ancestors of the genus Mus, 
were covered with enamel at maturity, like all other 


1“ Notiz tiber unvollkommene Schmelzentwickelung auf den Mahlzahnen 
der Ratte, Mus decumanus’’: Archiv fir Mikroskopische Anatomie, 1880, XVII, 
Pp. 241-243, Pl. XXVII. Ryder, American Naturalist, 1888, p. 547. 


404 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


primitive Glires. The removal of the enamel from the 
apices of the tubercles and crests of their descendents 
is due to the abrasion consequent on ordinary use. 
On this Ryder (/. c.) remarks: ‘‘ The great value which 
is to be attached to the fact that abrasions of the 
enamel of the adult, which have reacted upon the 
functional activity of the enamel organ of the embryo 
rat, so that such mechanically induced alterations could 
be inherited, does not consist so much in the proof it 
affords that mutilations can be inherited, as it does 
that mutilations incurred in the ordinary struggle for 
existence, may, under Certain conditions in certain 
practically feral species, be transmitted.” 

Having shown by these examples that acquired 
characters can be inherited, I offer some other illus- 
trations which are at hand. 


b. Arthropoda. 


It has been already rendered probable if not certain 
(p. 268) that the segments of the body and limbs of the 
Arthropoda were originally produced by the movements 
of definite tracts on each other, during the period that 
the external surfaces were becoming hardened by chi- 
tinous or calcareous deposits. It is well known that this 
segmentation is no longer produced by this mechanical 
cause during the adolescent or any other post-embry- 
onic stage of the life of the individual, but that it ap- 
pears during the various stages of embryonic life, and 
is therefore inherited. Thus segmentation of the body 
appears in the embryo while still attached to the yolk. 
During the larval life of many insects the process of 
segmentation is suspended, but during the repose of 
pupal life, it goes on with great rapidity. In this stage 
while protected from external mechanical stimuli, the 


HEREDITY. 405 


limbs with their specialized segments are fully devel- 
oped, so that the individual is mature as it issues from 
its prison. This illustration of inheritance derives its 
point in the present connection from the fact that it 
presents an example of the inheritance of characters 
which were plainly acquired by mechanical stimuli 
during post-embryonic life of the primitive ancestors 
of the Arthropoda. 


3. EVIDENCE FROM PALEONTOLOGY. 


a. The Impressed Zone of the Nautiloids. 


I have already quoted Professor Hyatt on the par- 
allelism which is characteristic of the various series of 
nautiloid Cephalopoda, as discovered by paleontologic 
research. (P.182.) The impressed zone is a character 
which has been produced by mechanical causes (pres- 
sure), and Prof. Hyatt has observed cases where this 
acquired peculiarity has been inherited in instances 
where the mechanical cause which produced it no longer 
existed. He describes these instances as follows :1 

‘¢The characteristic dealt with in the paper of 
which this is an abstract, is of essential importance 
among nautiloids and ammonoids or all of the Cepha- 
lopoda having chambered shells and living within their 
shells. It consists mainly of an impression made on 
the inner side or dorsum of each outer whorl during 
the coiling up, as the whorl grows and is moulded over 
the venter or outer side of the next inner whorl. 

“‘This matter will be better understood, if a short 
description is given of the following figures. Fig. 115 
shows an almost complete fossil cast of a full grown 


lAmerican Naturalist, 1893. October, p. 865. Professor Hyatt has person- 
ally looked over and corrected these quotations. 


‘ 


406 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Metatoceras cavatiformis Hyatt, and some of the lines 
or sutures made in the external surface of the cast by 
the intersections of the partitions or septa that cut 
up the coiled tube of the living shell into air cham- 
bers. Fig. 116 shows a broken specimen of the same 
species, but with the outer and older whorls in large 
part removed. The innermost septum near the center 
of the coil was built across the interior after the animal 
had constructed the hollow apex or point. It then 
moved along, adding to the external wall of the tube, 


Fig. 115. 


which has been destroyed and removed from this cast, 
and built the second septum, and so on until it reached 
the tenth septum. By some freak of fossilization a 
number of the septa beyond this have been destroyed, 
so that if we were to remove the fragment of the ex- 
ternal whorl and take out the center which has just 
been described, this would have the exact aspect of a 
cast of a young shell with ten air chambers.! The 


1The shaded area in the center, shaped like a large inverted comma, was 
an open space in the living shell. This is almost invariably filled by the 


HEREDITY, 407 


eleventh air space or chamber being open and without 
divisions would then appear to be the living chamber 
which the animal occupied when it built the tenth sep- 


Fig. 116. 


tum. Normally the shell really continued to progress 
from the tenth septum by additions to the outer wall 
and put in new septa behind it, together with the con- 


Fig. 117. 


necting tube until it reached s’, and finally the last 
septum, /s. This one, /s, was really the last one built 


rocky matrix in which the shells occur and is often, as in this specimen, al- 
lowed toremain. Seealso 4, 5, 6, of Fig. 119, which show the comma shaped 
umbilical perforations or openings left at the center through the crytoceran 
form of the young. 


408 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


and it formed the floor of a true living chamber, Zc, 

formerly occupied by the animal at the time of its 

death and burial in the sediment of the carboniferous 

period. Fig. 115 shows a similar fossil but with a 

longer, although still incomplete living chamber. If 

the external wall of shell had been preserved none of 

these structures could be seen. Fig. 117 shows a fossil 

Temnochilus crassus, a shell 

of the same family, with this 

external wall preserved, and 

all these internal structures 

covered up. The impressed 

zone is the reéntrant curve 

shown in all these figures 

me and especially marked in 

Mee the lower outline of an outer 

whorl of another carboniferous species, Metacoceras 
adubium Hyatt, Fig. 118, zm. 2. 

‘«It is not necessary to go into a discussion of the 
details of internal structures and their relations to the 
impressed zone in this abstract, but it is essential to 
give a general description of the morphogeny of the 
order of nautiloids. 

‘« This group of chambered Cephalopods contains 
the following classes of forms: first, straight, conical 
shells, type Orthoceras, Fig. 119, No. 1; second, curved 
cones, Cyrtoceras, Fig. 119, No. 2; third loosely coiled, 
open whorled cones, do., No. 3; fourth, coiled cones 
with the whorls more or less enveloping, do., No. 5. 
The fourth and fifth forms are usually included in 
the old genus, Nautilus. Practically, it is better to 
designate the first class as orthoceran, the second as 
cyrtoceran, the third as gyroceran, and the fourth and 
fifth as nautilian. In tracing genetic series through 


HEREDITY. 409 


time they are found to diverge in their evolution, start- 
ing with the orthoceran and passing through parallel 
lines of forms, many of the genetic series having in 
succession cyrtoceran, gyroceran, and even nautilian 
forms of the fourth and fifth classes. Others are not 
so perfectly parallel, stopping short with the cyrto- 
ceran class of forms or the gyroceran. Many also 
begin with cyrtoceran shells, while others diverge from 
the gyroceran, and still other series have only nautilian 
shells of different grades of close coiling and involu- 
tion. 

«<The application of the law of repetition in hered- 
ity to the chambered shell-covered cephalopods, shows 
that the straight orthoceran shells, Fig. 119, No. 1, 
were repeated in the young of the curved cyrtoceran 
forms, Fig. 119, No. 2, and these forms in their turn 
in the young of the gyroceran forms, Fig. 119, No. 3; 
and this may be seen by comparing the young or api- 
cal part of each shell represented in outline with the 
full-grown shells of the preceding figures. The apex 
of No. 2, with the whole of No. 1; the apex of No. 3, 
with the whole of No. 2. It will be understood, of 
course, that the figures in outline represent full-grown 
shells, except when otherwise explained, and that they 
were built like the shells of Nos. 1-2, by an animal 
living in their interiors and adding band after band of 
shelly matter to the exterior, but in these outlines the 
shell is supposed to be perfect and the internal struc- 
tures concealed.! The young of Fig. 119, No. 4, 
which represents the fourth class of forms repeats the 
‘cyrtoceran form, then curves more closely, and just 
Wefore it comes in contact there is a short time when 


1Except in No. 9, in which a portion of the shell is broken away. showing 
the cast of the interior and the sutures. 


opoda, 


Cephal 


HEREDITY, 411 


EXPLANATION OF FIG. 119. 
LETTERING. 


a. Apex of sHell. This usually bears a scar on the point, as shown in 
Nos. 14 and 15, but this has no bearing on the question discussed, and has 
not been described. This also represents the youngest (nepionic) or cyrto- 
ceran stage in the growth of the shell, No. 8 being a young shell with complete 
living chamber. This letter also indicates the location of the sections corre- 
spondingly lettered in the figures. 

4 is used to indicate the section of the cyrtoceran stage in Nos. 11-13. 

6' is used to indicate the place of the sections, Nos. 4-54’, upon the whorls 
of Nos. 4-5. They were taken through the whorl in the gyroceran stage. 

cis used for the adolescent (neanic) stage of growth in the whorl and the 
corresponding sections. 

c'is used for the full-grown (ephebic) stage in the growth of the whorl and 
the corresponding sections. 

@ for the first part of the senile (gerontic) stage. 

e for the final and most degenerative part of the senile stage. 

zz for the impressed zone. 

v venter or outer side of the shell, the dorsum being the inner side of the 
whorl. 

w for the whorls, thus 1 w in Nos. 3 and 4 means the end of the first whorl, 
2w the beginning of the second whorl, 3 w that of the third whorl. These 
letters serve to show the progressive increase in numbers of the whorls in the 
ditferent classes of forms. 


FIGURES. 


No. 1. Outline of an orthoceran shell. 

No. «. Outline of cyrtoceran shell. 

No. 3. Outline of gyroceran shell. 

No. 4. Outline of nautilian shell, having a larger umbilical perforation 
at (2) and fewer whorls at the same age, than in No. 5; in other words, it is 
less tightly and completely coiled up than the class of shells represented by 
that figure. 

No. 5. A nautilian shell with tighter coils than in No. 4 and the whorls 
coming in contact and the impressed zone beginning at an earlier stage. 

No. 6. Barrand as bohemi (sp. Barrande) Hyatt, showing the most 
involute of the Silurian shells so far as known; No. 6 is reduced in size, but 
the section No. 7 is natural size. 

No. 8. A young shell of the same, natural size, with complete living 
chamber. 

Nos. 9-10. Coloceras globatum (sp. De Koninck) Hyatt, adult. No.9 has 
a part of the outer shell broken off, showing the edges of the septal partitions 
(sutures) as lines on the strong cast of the interior. 

Nos. 11-13. Same to show the cyrtoceran stage and section, with its im- 
pressed zone. 

No. 14. Cenoceras clausum, Hyatt. 

Nos. 15-16. Nautilus pompilius, to show the cyrtoceran stage with its im- 
pressed zone. 


412 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


it overlaps the apex without touching it. At this time 
it is plainly gyroceran, like the whole of No. 3. After 
it touches the first whorl just beyond the apex it re- 
mains in contact, and the inner side or dorsum of the 
second or overlapping whorl begins to show a flatten- 
ing as a result of this collision of the whorls. The sec- 
tions of the orthoceran, cyrtoceran, and gyroceran 
whorls show no such flattening in any of the speci- 
mens examined, although hundreds of different kinds 
have been studied. The sections are designated on 
the plate by the same letters as the supposed lines of 
the sections made through the tube, and although dia- 
grammatic figures, they give a sufficiently clear gen- 
eral explanation of the facts observed. More specific 
figures could have been given in abundance and will 
be given in the paper now in course of preparation.} 

“Fig. 119, No. 5, shows the same phenomena as 
No. 4. The young is at first cyrtoceran like the adult 
whorl of No. 2, and open, then becomes gyroceran in 
curvature and finally overlaps the apex when it has 
arrived at the end of the first volution, but does not at 
first touch it. Then coming into contact it acquires a 
flattened area or faint impressed zone on the dorsum 
or inner side of the second volution, as is shown in 
the section No. 5c. This is similar to the section of 
No. 4 shown in No. 4c’, which represents a cut through 
an adult whorl of the fourth class of forms. It differs 
only in being smaller, on account of the younger stage 
of growth at which it occurs. 

‘The entire series of forms from orthoceran to nau- 
tilian is more or less represented, even in the earliest 
period at which the nautiloids appear, namely, in the 


1See ‘‘Phylogeny of an Acquired Characteristic,’’ Hyatt, Proceedings 
American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, XXXII., No. 143. 


| HEREDITY, 413 


rocks of the Quebec group. There is, however, this 
qualification: the fifth classof forms, or the involute 
nautilian, are relatively rare and become more abun- 
dant in successive periods. The young of nautilian 
shells of the earlier periods are also apt to be lessclosely 
coiled, or, in other words, remain open and similar to 
cyrtoceras for a longer time during their growth. This 
is shown by the large size of the central hole, or um- 
bilical perforation, left in the center of full-grown 
shells. This perforation is much larger, as a rule, in 
Paleozoic than in the Mesozoic forms. 

‘In each period the genetic series or groups of nau- 
tilian forms have peculiarities of structure in the su- 
tures, ornaments, apertures, etc., by which they can 
be separated from each other, and these peculiarities 
are the same as those possessed by gyroceran, cyrto- 
ceran, and often orthoceran shells which occurred often 
earlier in time, so that one can trace each group of 
nautilian shells back to its ancestors through the par- 
allel stages of evolution above described. The groups, 
in other words, are parallel in their morphogenesis, 
like two individuals of the same parents in their de- 
velopment from youth to old age. 

‘‘As a general rule the impressed zone originates, 
as described above, after the whorls come in contact, 
rarely before this time in the growth of any individ- 
uals. Barrandeoceras is one of the most involute shells 
known in the Silurian, and Fig. 119, No. 6, gives a 
true sketch of this species ; No. 7, shows a section of 
a full-grown shell with a decided impressed zone, and 
No. 8 is the young. This last is a purely cyrtoceran 
form with a compressed elliptical section like that of 
No. 7, but no impressed zone, the inner side being 
rounded like the diagram of Cyrtoceras, No. 2. The 


414 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


impressed zone is not present in the young of Ophidi- 
oceras, the closest coiled of all these forms, nor in the 
young of most species of the Silurian before the whorls 
touch, and all of the species likely to present this pecu- 
liarity have been investigated. 

‘¢The impressed zone is also, as a rule, lost in the 
oldest stage of the whorl of every individual when the 
whorls cease to continue to grow in contact. This 
condition is represented in the last part of the outer- 
most whorl of Nos. 4 and 5 in sections, Nos. 4e¢, 5¢, 
and in the outlines of their apertures, which are ellip- 
tical. The sections represent cuts through the whorls 
when, as is the case in extreme age, these cease to in- 
crease in size. As soon as this senile contraction be- 
gins to occur, the sides shrink, becoming narrower, 
the amount of involution becomes less, and the im- 
pressed zone shrinks in breadth, as shown in the sec- 
tions. When the whorl finally parts company in 
consequence of continued contraction, the already 
shrunken impressed zone, Nos. 44, 5d, rapidly dis- 
appears, and the apertures of such shells are frequently 
as round and free from indentations on the inner as on 
the outer side, as is shown at the free end of Nos. 4 
and 5. 

“<In normally uncoiled forms, usually named Litu- 
ites, when the adult or young is coiled, and the suc- 
ceeding stages, whether representing adults or old 
shells, are uncoiled, the phenomena are similar. The 
impressed zone is lost after the growth ceases to bring 
the whorls of the shell into contact. 

«The young and the adults of many of these forms 
have now been observed in the earliest periods, and it 
is, therefore, obvious that during these early times the 
impressed zone must have been a modification of the 


HEREDITY. 415 


whorl which took place in consequence of the mechan- 
ical effects produced by close coiling. This charac- 
teristic is slight when the coiling is slight and is de- 
veloped in precise proportion to the increase of coiling 
or involution of the whorls, and, on the other hand, 
when through degeneration due to age, or to other 
causes, the whorls cease growing in contact, the im- 
pressed zone gradually disappears. 

««Thus it generally appears preceded and accompa- 
nied by an observable tendency in the mode of growth 
toward closer coiling and that this tendency is quite 
capable of producing the impressed zone can hardly 
be denied with any show of reason, since the charac- 
teristic tends to disappear in proportion as the pressure 
is relieved through the degeneration of the powers of 
growth-force to continue the normal rate of progres- 
sive increase of bulk in old or young or prematurely 
degenerate shells and in uncoiled whorls of all kinds 
and all ages. 

‘« The shells of Devonian series of nautiloids have 
also been extensively examined, especially in the more 
involute nautilian forms of the genus Nephriticeras, 
and so far not one has been found with the slightest 
indication of the presence of an impressed zone in 
the cyrtoceran or gyroceran stages of development. 
In several examples also, the disappearance of this 
characteristic has been observed in the last stages of 
old whorls. There is, therefore, every reason for re- 
garding the impressed zone as a ctetic characteristic 
acquired in the later stages of growth and not heredi- 
tary so far as is known in any shells of the earlier Pa- 
leozoic periods.! 


1Certain exceptions have been found since this was written, but their evi- 
dence is purely negative, it is impossible to say of them at present whether 


416 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


««The same statement may also be made with regard 
to the majority of Carboniferous shells. There is, how- 
ever, a notable exception in Coloceras globatum (sp. 
De Kon.) Hyatt, and very likely some other species 
of closely coiled nautilian shells. In C. globatum of 
Visé, Belgium, I found in seven specimens that the 
impressed zone appeared while the whorl was still in 
the cyrtoceran (or open) stage. Fig. 119, Nos. g-10, 
give outlines of the adult of this species, and Nos. 11— 
12, of the young and the zone, showing that the im- 
pression appeared long before the whorls touched each 
other and began to assume nautilian characters. Sec- 
tion, No. 134, shows the impressed zone occurring in 
the cyrtoceran stage while the venter or outer side of 
the whorl was rounded. Such facts admit of but one 
explanation, namely, that in this species the impressed 
zone had become hereditary and was in consequence 
repeated at an early age, previous to the occurrence 
of close coiling which usually produced it in the ances- 
tral forms of the same group. 

‘There are certain correlative characters which 
lead me to think that this is only a partial statement and 
perhaps a more complete and better one would be as 
follows: that the impressed zone, together with a pe- 
culiar broadening out of the dorsum and helmet-shaped 
section of the whorl, and perhaps also certain forms of 
sutures occurred in the early stages of some Carbonif- 
erous species before the nautilian stage, and conse- 
quently they must have been introduced by heredity 
into the development of this species before the ten- 
dency to close coiling had completed the first whorl. 


the impressed zone appeared as a genetic character or as a mechanical neces- 
sity. Either view can be taken, but the positive evidence is that they are very 
rare, and the impressed zone appears in them as a parallel character of dis- 
tinct diverging series of forms.—A. #7. 


HEREDITY. 417 


Thus these characters, although purely ctetic in origin, 
were repeated before the usual conditions recurred in 
the ontogeny of this species which had obviously and 
repeatedly produced them in the nautilian forms of the 
earlier Paleozoic and the more generalized genetic 
series of the Carboniferous. That this species, Co/. 
globatum, is a highly specialized species is shown by 
other characteristics, especially the early inheritance 
of a furrowed abdomen, shown at vin Fig. 119, No. 
11, and a peculiar aperture. 

“‘The Triassic period is unimportant in this con- 
nection since it has but few nautilian species that are 
deeply involute and also sufficiently well known to 
throw any light upon this problem. All of the true 
orthoceran, cyrtoceran, and gyroceran forms diminish 
in the Carboniferous and disappear with the Trias. 

‘‘The Jura contains a considerable number of nau- 
tilian shells of different genera of which the cyrtoceran 
stages are sufficiently well known. Cenoceros aratum, 
of which several specimens have been studied, shows 
the impressed zone and correlative characters in this 
stage; C. lineatum is the same; C. clausum, same; 
C. intermedium, same. Fig. 119, No. 14, shows the 
cyrtoceran stage ina shell of C. clausum, with a well 
developed impressed zone, z. z. Endolobus is a char- 
acteristic Paleozoic type and there is a single survivor 
of this series in the Jura, End. (Vaut.) excavatum sp. 
D’Orb. It is, therefore, very interesting and instruc- 
tive to note that this species has the impressed zone, 
according to D’Orbigny’s figure, during the cyrtoceran 
stage. This species has a large umbilical perforation 
and is slower in coiling up than other Jurassic species. 
The evidence that the impressed zone and its correla- 
tive characteristics are inherited in most species of the 


418 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Jura before the habit of close coiling could have acted 
‘ upon the whorls so as to produce this modification is, 
therefore very general and convincing. 

‘The leading characteristic of parallelism in all 
genetic series of nautiloids is, as may be inferred from 
the facts cited, a tendency toward closer coiling and 
greater involution in the more specialized forms of 
each separate series and a correlative increase in the 
profundity of the impressed zone. When the impressed 
zone becomes inheritable in some closely coiled and 
involute specialized shells of the Carboniferous and 
in similar shells in all of the genetic series of the 
Jura this result is also directly connected with the ob- 
served fact of the quicker development of the coiling 
up tendency in the young of these Jurassic shells. This 
is shown by the small diameter of the umbilical per- 
foration in the centers of the shells of the Carbonif- 
erous. It is also connected with the fact that the prim- 
itive uncoiled forms, orthoceran, cyrtoceran, and gy- 
roceran shells begin to die out in the Carboniferous 
and cease with the Trias as mentioned above. 

««This demonstration of the characters that accom- 
pany progress in close coiling, enables me to fill a gap 
which occurs in the evidence during the Cretaceous. 
In this period the existence of the impressed zone dur- 
ing the cyrtoceran stage of individuals has not been 
clearly established by observation except in two spe- 
cies, a form allied to Cymatoceras pseudoelegans D’Or- 
bigny, from Faxoe,and Cymatoceras elegans from Rouen. 
In other shells, although a considerable number have 
been broken down, the state of preservation has been 
invariably imperfect. The coiling, however, in the 
young of all the shells examined is notably more ac- 
celerated than in the similar shells of the Jura, and the 


HEREDITY. 419 


whorls broader and having more specialized charac- 
teristics correlative with closer coiling and the early 
existence of an impressed zone. It is, therefore, fair 
to infer that the evidence when accessible will confirm 
the facts observed in previous periods. 

‘“‘The same arguments apply also to the tertiary 
forms as far as known. 

‘<The terminal members of the nautiloids are, of 
course, the existing species. Maudzlus pompilius and um- 
bilicatus have been examined in a considerable number 
of specimens, and in all of these the impressed zone 
and correlative helmet-shaped whorl and broad flat- 
tened dorsal side appears during the cyrtoceran stage. 
Fig. 119, Nos. 15-16, are outlines of the shell of pompz- 
dius during the cyrtoceran stage exhibiting the helmet- 
shaped whorl, broad dorsum, or inner side, and its 
impressed zone, zz. Thus, when the whorls touch, as 
in all the nautilian shells of the Carboniferous, Jura, 
and Cretaceous, in which the same acceleration of de- 
velopment also occurs, the whorl is already prepared 
to become involute and to mould itself more readily 
and rapidly over the surfaces of the apex and the side 
of the succeeding whorls. In other words, heredity 
has begun the work before the whorls touch, and be- 
fore the deepening and enlargement of the impressed 
zone through the pressure of close coiling is begun. 
There are quite a number of characteristics of the spe- 
cies of existing Nautili which lead to the inference 
that they are survivors of Jurassic and generalized 
Cretaceous and Cenozoic forms; the size of the um- 
bilical perforations, the smoothness of the shells, the 
simplicity of the sutures, and so on. These facts are 


1This inference has been fully sustained by subsequent investigations.— 
A, Hyatt. 


420 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


of importance only in so far as they show that the ex- 
isting Nautilus does not represent the acme of pro- 
gress of its order, but is a descendant of shells with 
less complicated structures than many of the genera of 
the Carboniferous, Jura, and Cretaceous.”’ 

In these cases it seems that the mechanically ac- 
quired impressed zone is inherited from the greater 
part of the soma where it existed to a part of the soma 
of the young where it could not be produced by me- 
chanical causes, by reason of the non-contact of the 
parts. This acquisition appears in a few Carboniferous 
species, and then it is present in the cyrtoceran or 
mesozoid stage of all the Jurassic, Cretaceous, and 
Cenozoic species. Professor Hyatt, in his ‘‘ Phylogeny 
of an Acquired Characteristic,” thus summarizes his 
conclusions : 

‘«The facts and arguments brought forward seem 
to justify the following conclusions: 

«‘t, The impressed zone is primitively a contact 
furrow, an acquired characteristic of the dorsum of the 
whorls of nautilian shells having large umbilical per- 
forations, which appeared either in the ananeanic or 
metaneanic (maturing) substages, and rarely later in 
their ontogeny. There is abundant positive evidence 
that in these primitive forms this furrow is a purely 
mechanical result of the nautilian mode of growth, not 
appearing in the ontogeny before contact, and either 
partially or entirely disappearing on the free gerontic 
(senile) volution. 

‘¢2, The impressed zone does occur independently 
of contact on the free dorsum of the paranepionic (ado- 
lescent) substage as a dorsal furrow in some close- 
coiled, highly tachygenic (accelerated) nautilian shells 
in the Quebec group and in the Devonian. 


HEREDITY. 421 


‘¢3, While there is no positive proof that the dor- 
sal furrow originated through heredity in the parane- 
pionic substages of these nautiloids of pre-Carbonife- 
rous age, there is also no satisfactory evidence that it 
originated in the young of such species as have this 
character, through purely mechanical agencies. 

“«4. There is positive evidence that the similar dor- 
sal furrow which also appears at the same age in the 
young shells of Coloceras globatum and perhaps Celo- 
gasteroceras canaliculatum among Carboniferous nauti- 
loids can be explained only when it is considered as a 
transmitted, tachygenetic (accelerated) characteristic. 

‘«5. This fourth conclusion is supported by the 
presence of a similar dorsal furrow in the paranepionic 
(adolescent) substage of the young shells of all the 
nautiloids of the Jura, so far observed. 

‘¢6. The fourth and fifth conclusions are rendered 
still more probable by the presence of the dorsal fur- 
row at an earlier age, the metanepionic substage, in 
all of the nautiloids so far observed, from the begin- 
ning of the Cretaceous, through the Tertiaries, to and 
including the living species of the genus Nautilus. Its 
presence on this cyrtoceran volution in Cretacic shells 
can be explained only when it is considered as a trans- 
mitted, tachygenetic (accelerated) characteristic de- 
rived from ancestral nautilian shells of the Jura, which 
have the same characteristic at a later age, i. e., in the 
paranepionic substage. 

‘«7, The first conclusion is also sustained by the 
parallel phylogeny of the impressed zone in the ances- 
tral forms of the Ammonoidea, the Nautilinide, and 
especially in the Mimoceras, the radical genus of this 
family. 

«¢8. The fourth, fifth, and sixth conclusions are 


422 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


also supported by the presence of a contact furrow on 
the dorsum of the earliest age of the conch in the spe- 
cialized and highly tachygenic forms of the Goniati- 
tine of the Devonian and of all the remaining ammo- 
noids to the end of the Cretaceous. 

‘¢g, These cumulative results favor the theory of 
tachygenesis (acceleration) and diplogenesis, and are 
opposed to the Weismannian hypothesis of the sub- 
division of the body into two essentially distinct kinds 
of plasm, the germ-plasm, which receives and trans- 
mits acquired characteristics, and the somatoplasm, 
which, while it is capable of acquiring modifications, 
either does not or cannot transmit them to descend- 
ants.” (Proceedings American Philosophical Soctety, Vol. 
XXXII., p. 615). 


4. EVIDENCE FROM BREEDING. 


Under this head I cite the results of experience of 
breeding of the domesticated Vertebrata. It is here 
that we have had the best opportunity of testing the 
possibility of the inheritance of acquired characters, 
since the species in question have been the objects of 
observation and experiment for a long period of time. 
I especially avail myself of the writings in this con- 
nection of Prof. Wm. H. Brewer, of Yale University, 
President of the Agricultural Society of Connecticut. 
The result of his long-continued observations is con- 
tained in a series of papers in the journal Agricultural 
Science of the years 1892-1893. He considers the sub- 
ject under the following heads, viz.: The inheritance 
of characters which are due to nutrition ; of those due 
to the exercise of function ; of those due to disease ; 
of those due to mutilation and injuries ; of those due 
to habit, training, and education; of those due to. re- 


HEREDITY, 423 


gional influences and to a combination of causes ; and 
of those of acquired plasticity and adaptation. I com- 
mence with an example of the 


a. Inheritance of Characters Due to Nutrition. 


“«One class of ‘acquired characters,’ the transmis- 
sion of which by heredity is especially denied by Weis- 
mann, includes all ‘those which are directly due to 
nutrition.’ 

‘« This denial strikes at the very foundation of what 
has heretofore been considered an essential factor in 
the practical improvement of breeds as to size. The 
size attained by adult, healthy domestic animals de- 
pends practically upon two causes—heredity and nu- 
trition. Heredity is of course the chief one, for no 
amount of feeding will make the Shetland pony equal 
the Norman horse in size ; but whatever the heredity, 
the size of the adult individual as compared with the 
average of others of the same breed depends usually 
upon its food. The ultimate weight of the mature 
animal varies of course with the amount of fat assimi- 
lated, which may occur long after maturity; but the 
size as dependent upon the frame, such as the weight, 
length, and general proportions, is modified by the 
quantity and quality of food available during the grow- 
ing period of early life. This fact no one questions ; 
and if these acquired characters are in no degree what- 
ever transmitted, then certain practices of breeders, 
which are founded upon the contrary belief are delu- 
sive and expensive mistakes. 

‘‘Practical breeders have hitherto believed that 
these characters are to some degree transmitted, and 
practice accordingly. I have searched extensively the 
writings of practical breeders to see if I could find a 


424. PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


single one who questions it, and I fail to find even so 
much as an intimation of any such belief. All the 
recorded observations founded upon actual practice 
appear to point the other way, and consequently the 
fact of partial transmission is assumed. 

‘« The practical value given to this factor is now 
much smaller than formerly given, but that it is a fac- 
tor of some value is universally assumed. 

««During the last century, and early part of this, 
many graziers had a maxim that in the profitable pro- 
duction of animals for slaughter, ‘feed is more than 
breed,’ but now both breeders and graziers know that 
heredity or ‘breed,’ is the more important. But no 
breeder claims that a breed is or can be kept up to 
extra size by selection alone. This belief is so uni- 
versal, and is apparently so grounded upon long and 
extensive experience, that I cannot find there has ever 
been an attempt to increase the size of any breed with- 
out special attention to this factor, and consequently 
conclusive and direct experiment is entirely wanting. 
Positive proof either way cannot be deduced from the 
actual experiments of breeders ; their belief that feed 
as well as selection is necessary, is a deduction from 
the observation of many facts which bear upon the 
question. 

‘«In this connection it must be borne in mind that 
all the best breeders recognize the rule laid down by 
Darwin, that those characters are transmitted with 
most persistency which have been handed down 
through the longest line of ancestry. Breeders do not 
believe that the characters acquired through the feed- 
ing of a single ancestor, or generation of ancestors, 
can oppose more than a slight resistance to that force 
of heredity which has been accumulated through many 


HEREDITY. 425 


preceding generations, and is concentrated from many 
lines of ancestry. Yet the belief is universal that the 
acquired characters due to food during the growing 
period has some force, and that this force is cumula- 
tive in successive generations. All the observed facts 
in the experience with herds and flocks point in this 
direction. It is the same whether the observations re- 
late to the increase in the size of breeds, which has 
been brought about by systematic selection and feed- 
ing directed with this special aim, or to the local de- - 
velopment of breeds under the combined influence of 
the food supply and unsystematic selection. 

«Where both large and small breeds have been in 
process of improvement in the same region at the 
same time and with the same ‘kinds of food, liberal 
feeding along with systematic selection is always prac- 
tised where an increase of size is aimed at, and under- 
feeding during growth is practised when it is desired to 
reduce the size. We have examples of these going on 
together contemporaneously. Breeding for increase 
of size is more common than that for reducing, but the 
latter occurs not only in the small fancy breeds of 
poultry and dogs, but even of cattle. When small and 
delicate Alderney cows were a fashionable ornament for 
parks and lawns, some of the most successful breeders 
practised starving systematically, and at least one 
eminently successful breeder of these animals so under- 
fed the growing calves that it led to legal interference 
by a local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
Animals. 

‘So far as I know, all the breeds of especially 
large horses, cattle, and sheep have originated in dis- 
tricts of abundant food, usually in fertile valleys or on 
plains, and excepting fancy breeds of poultry and pets, 


426 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


all the smaller breeds have originated in districts of 
scantier forage. This can hardly be due to accident, 
for it is as true of local varieties of’wild animals under 
natural selection as of domestic animals under artifi- 
cial selection.” 


b. Inheritance of Characters Due to the Exercise of 
Function. 


This class of cases has an especial bearing on the 
doctrine of kinetogenesis. We have a very conspicu- 
ous example of such inheritance in the case of the 
evolution of the trotting horse, which is described by 
Professor Brewer as follows: 

“«We have a copious literature relating to the de- 
velopment of this breed, and the ‘records’ of speed 
provide the data for a mathematical history of the rate 
of progress, and also the measure of amount of cumu- 
lative variation that has occurred up to this time. 
These data give to this breed a special interest for 
scientific study. : 

“‘The facts briefly stated are as follows: Trotters 
had their uses for ages, but fast trotters were not 
wanted until the improvement in roads and in wheeled 
vehicles during the last quarter of the last century 
caused an increasing demand for faster roadsters for 
light draft. Trotting is the gait of traction, as run- 
ning is for riding, and trotting as a sport sprang up in 
nearly all the countries of Europe as well as in Amer- 
ica so soon as faster trotters were needed for the road. 
Then trotting-horses began to be bred, and long be- 
fore the close of the century there were trotting-stal- 
lions of considerable fame. There were also recorded 
statements as to the speed attained. 

“‘Lawrence, a lover of trotters, in his 7reatise on 


HEREDITY. 427 


Horses (London, 1796), considered that ‘the utmost 
speed of the English trotter’ (which he believes to ex- 
cel all others), to be a mile in two minutes and fifty- 
seven seconds. During the next twenty years there 
were very many recorded trials of speed, and a few of 
the best animals, both here and in Europe, trotted a 
mile in three minutes, but none in less time than that 
given by Lawrence. 

‘Considering the number of animals that were 
tested, the widespread interest in the matter, and that 
these records were the best of both Europe and Amer- 
ica, it is fair to assume that this was the utmost speed 
actually attained by the best trotting-horses until after 
1820, although some specific selection in breeding trot- 
ters had been going on for half a century, and possibly 
much longer. 

«« By 1810, the taste for trotting as a sport had died 
out in western Europe, but it increased here, and in 
1818 it became a recognized sport under specific rules. 
This is practically the beginning of technical ‘trotting 
records’ as we now know them. It soon became 
fashionable to drive a single horse for pleasure, a so- 
cial factor in breeding that was lacking in the Old 
World. This created a demand for trotters, as well 
as increased the taste of trotting asasport. Asso- 
ciations were chartered for the promoting of trotting, 
and special tracks built for the exercising and training 
of trotters. 

‘At the end of 1824, six years after the first ac- 
cepted three-minute record, the record had fallen to 
2:34, a reduction of twenty-six seconds. This great 
reduction so rapidly effected was, doubtless, due chiefly 
to better training, but also in part to special exercise 
of function, in part to heredity, and in part to the 


428 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


larger number of animals trained. It is not probable 
that mere exercise of training could materially further 
increase this speed, for the next ten years lowered the 
record only two and a half seconds, and twenty-one 
years more passed before the first 2:30 record in har- 
ness was made. 

«‘By 1848, the record was lowered to 2:29%, and 
we have now a 2:30 class, with two or three horses 
technically in it, and perhaps half a dozen that had 
actually trotted at that speed. Now we began to have 
distinctively trotting blood, and heredity began to tell. 

‘<The next decade lowered the record five seconds; 
and the next (ending in 1868), lowered it seven.and a 
fourth seconds more; there were several horses in the 
2:20 class, and nearly one hundred and fifty in the 
2:30 list. 

«¢The next decade lowered the record four seconds; 
and the next (ending in 1888), four and a half seconds, 
and the number of 2:30 horses had increased to 3,255 
animals.. At the close of last year, the record had 
been further lowered half a second, to 2:08 ; there 
were 5,908 in the 2:30 list, 507 in the 2:20 list, and 
seven in the 2:10 list. This is the history for seventy- 
three years of ‘records.’ 

“«¢ Parallel with the evolution of this breed has been 
the development of a breed of pacers. The fast ani- 
mals are not so numerous, but the speed is greater, 
and the gait, as a fast gait, is more distinctly artificial. 
The instincts involved will be discussed in a later pa- 
per; here I will notice only the development of speed, 
because that is the direct and obvious result of func- 
tional development, and because we have mathematical 
data as to the rate and amount of actual evolution. 

‘«That the gain in speed has been cumulative, and 


HEREDITY. 429 


that for three-fourths of a century, that it has gone on 
along with systematic exercise of special function in 
successive generations of the present fast trotters, is 
indisputable and very evident. Selection has doubt- 
less determined the proper correlation of the various 
organs involved in the special evolution, but the in- 
crease in speed has only come along with the func- 
tional development, which was enhanced by special 
exercise in the individuals of successive generations. 
The cumulative value of this, if transmitted, would be 
vastly more than enough to account for all the increase 
that has actually occurred, great as that is. Viewed 
as phenomena, there is every appearance and indica- 
tion that the changes acquired by individuals through 
the exercise of function have been to some degree 
transmitted, and have been cumulative, and that this 
has been one factor in the evolution of speed. The 
cumulative variation has been most marked since we 
have had a 2:30 class, that is, since we have produced 
animals that are swift by heredity, and whose ances- 
tors, as well as themselves, have been exercised and 
trained to trot. Studied as phenomena, there is not a 
particle of evidence that these special changes ac- 
quired by the individuals were totally lost to each suc- 
cessive generation, and that all that was ‘transmitted 
by heredity,’ was a something that did not exist in 
either parent or in any ancestor. There is nothing 
whatever in the actual phenomena observed anywhere 
along the line of this development of speed that would 
lead us to even suspect that the changes due to exer- 
cise of function had zo¢ been a factor in the evolution, 
and there is not a particle of evidence, other than met- 
aphysical deductions, much less proof, that it would 


430 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


or could have gone on just the same by mere selection 
and adventitious variation.” 


c. Inheritance of Characters Due to Disease. 


Under this head Brewer cites a well-known case. 
He says: ‘‘The most extensive and complete set of 
experiments yet published on the artificial production 
of disease by mechanical injuries are those of Dr. 
Brown-Sequard on the artificial production of epilepsy. 
This is a disease which is certainly sometimes heredi- 
tary and which may also be produced by art in previ- 
ously sound animals. He experimented with guinea 
pigs and produced many artificial epileptics, and by 
breeding these he produced many congenital epilep- 
tics. The disease artificially produced in the parents 
was transmitted to the offspring in numerous cases. 
The acquired characters in those cases were certainly 
transmitted to the offspring and became hereditary. 
These experiments were continued and repeated by 
his assistant and pupil Depuy, and the results abund- 
antly confirmed. It was shown, moreover, that in 
many cases it was the ¢endency to become epileptic that 
was transmitted rather than the disease itself. Just 
as ina great majority of cases of strictly hereditary 
disease it is the constitutional tendency rather than 
the disease itself that is commonly transmitted. 

“«These experiments have now been before the 
world some years, during which time ideas have greatly 
changed as to the causes of disease, and the nature of 
hereditary tendencies, but as yet there are no pub- 
lished accounts of experiments indicating that those of 
Brown-Sequard and of Depuy were not carefully per- 
formed, or that the conclusions were illusive. Medical 
literature abounds with alleged instances where ner- 


HEREDITY. 431 


vous diseases acquired by parents through environ- 
ment have been transmitted in some shape to children, 
but this evidence is not nearly so conclusive as the ex- 
perimental proof cited. 

‘«In conclusion we may say that the drift of all the 
collated observations on both man and brute seem to 
indicate that certain of the changes produced in the 
animal body by disease are often to some degree trans- 
mitted, that these may be cumulative and lead to de- 
generation if not indeed to the extinction of families. 
The experience of breeders as well as the observations 
of medical men practically establishes the fact that ac- 
quired weakness and defects occurring in successive 
generations may result in truly hereditary unsound- 
ness.” 


a. Inheritance of Characters Due to Mutilation and 
Injuries. 


While characters of this kind are relatively rarely 
inherited, there is little doubt that they can be. Dr. 
Brewer cites a few cases for illustration ; ‘‘some of 
them have been already published, others have not. 
They are not the most striking, but are chosen because 
they are representative. 

“‘a. A mare in foal had an eye seriously injured by 
burdocks entangled in the forelock. She suffered with 
violent ophthalmia, and in due time dropped a foal (a 
filly) which had the corresponding eye aborted. She 
afterwards bore several normal foals. 

“«(This case came under the observation of the 
eminent veterinarian, Professor Law of Cornell Uni- 
versity. Papers American Public Health Association, 
2, Pp. 254.) 

‘*d, A game-cock, in his second year, lost an eye 


x 


432 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


inafight. Soon after, and while the wound was very 
malignant (it never entirely healed), he was turned 
into a flock of game hens of another strain. He was 
otherwise healthy and vigorous. A very large propor- 
tion of his progeny had the corresponding eye defec- 
tive. The chicks were not blind when hatched, but 
became so before attaining their full growth; some at 
the time of acquiring the pin-feathers, others later and 
before reaching maturity. The hens afterwards pro- 
duced normal chickens with another cock. Both 
strains had been purely bred for ten or more years, 
and none of the fowls had been blind unless from 
fights. — 

“<(This case was reported to me’by an educated 
and reliable breeder of game-fowls. ) 

“¢¢, A hunting mare had a split pastern and was 
then used for breeding. Her first, third, and fourth 
foals were sound, the second one had ‘almost an exact 
reproduction of the mare’s unsoundness.’ 

‘(This is on the authority of the celebrated veteri- 
nary surgeon, Clement Stevenson, as occurring under 
his own observation, ‘not hearsay.’ Live Stock Jour- 
nal, London, November 23, 1888, p. 508.) 

‘‘d@. A female (and very prolific) cat, when about 
half grown met with an accident. ‘Her fine, long tail 
was trodden on and had a compound fracture, two ver- 
tebrz being so displaced that they ever after formed a 
short offset between the near and far end of the tail, 
leaving the two out of line. At first I noted that out 
of every litter of kittens some had a tail with a querl 
in it.’ With successive litters the deformity increased, 
until ‘not a kitten of the old cat had a straight tail, 
and it grew worse in her progeny until now we have 
not a cat with a normal tail on the premises,’ (in a cat- 


HEREDITY. 433 


population of six or eight, exclusive of young kittens). 
‘The tails are now in part mere stumps, some have a 
semicircular sweep sideways, and some have the orig- 
inal querl. Perhaps the deformity was somewhat 
aggravated by in-and-in breeding and by artificial se- 
lection practised by my Chinaman, who, with the per- 
versity of his race, preferred the crooked tails, and 
thus preserved them in preference to the normal kit- 
tens. There are no other abnormally-tailed cats in 
the neighborhood.’ 

‘«This is the essential part of an unpublished letter 
from that keen observer and eminent scientist, Prof. 
Eugene W. Hilgard of the University of California. 

«Numerous cases have been recorded as occurring 
with mankind. I will give but two, both of which 
have not before been published. 

‘¢e, A person, when a boy of ten years, cut the 
terminal phalange of the little finger of his left hand 
with a sickle. The joint was not injured, nor was the 
function of the finger seriously impaired. There was, 
however, an obvious deformity. The finger was ill- 
shaped and crooked, and the nail abnormal. He mar- 
ried and had two children, the first a son, with normal 
fingers, the second a daughter, who had the little fin- 
ger of the corresponding (the left) hand deformed 
from birth in the same manner. The function of the 
finger was not seriously injured, but the deformity was 
precisely the same in shape, even to the malformation 
of the finger-nail. She died at thirty, without chil- 
dren, consequently no observation on a succeeding 
generation could be noted. None of his other kindred 
had malformed fingers, nor had any ancestor of the 
child for at least three generations, and there was no 
knowledge of any such in the more remote ancestry. 


434 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


“«(This case was related to me in full detail by the 
father with the deformed finger, and with whom I was 
personally acquainted. He was an eminent physician, 
the president of a large and reputable medical college, 
and his name is well known to the profession.) 

««f A woman thirty-five years of age had both 
kneepans broken. Erysipelas and other complications 
prevented the use of the usual surgical appliances for 
keeping the severed parts together while healing, so 
they never united by bony union, but became joined 
by intervening cartilage. The hurt was peculiarly 
painful and slow of healing, because of the complica- 
tions alluded to, but the general health was fully re- 
stored. Forsome years after healing there was a very 
pronounced groove or furrow along the line of fracture 
over the connecting cartilage, especially in the right 
knee. The outer edges of the fractured bone were 
sharp at first, but ultimately became rounded by ab- 
sorption. Both fractures were V-shaped. The right 
knee had the parts wider separated at the time of ‘the 
accident, and was again partially torn asunder three 
and a half months later, and the furrow consequently 
remained very much broader and deeper than in the 
other knee. About. four months (124 days) after the 
first accident, and while still unable to walk, she gave 
birth toa son. No abnormal appearance was noticed 
at the time, and later was not looked for until the 
child was ten or more years old, when he called atten- 
tion to the matter himself. There was then a deep 
and well-defined groove across the surface of the right 
kneepan, very plainly perceivable through the skin. 
It corresponded precisely in shape and position with 
the fracture and the later furrow in the corresponding 
bone in the mother. It was most pronounced before 


HEREDITY. 435 


the age of sixteen. After that the edges became modi- 
fied by growth or absorption, becoming less sharp, 
following in this respect the changes that gradually 
occurred in the shape of the bone in the mother. The 
son is otherwise normal. Three other children of the 
same parents, one born before and two after the birth 
of the one described, are entirely normal. The ances- 
tors of both parents are known for several generations 
(from three to éight in the several lines) and all were 
normal, so far as is known.” 

‘(This case has been under my own observation 
during the whole period.) 

“Tt will be noticed that in the cases a, 4, and f, the 
injury to the parent occurred shortly before or during 
gestation, and that the healing had not taken place 
until after the birth of the offspring. Also, that the 
function of the organ involved, an important organ in 
the animal economy, was at the time suspended. Also 
that in all these cases, later offspring were normal.” 


e. Inheritance of Characters Due to Regional Influences. 


Characters of this kind mostly come under the head 
of Physiogenesis. A case of inheritance is thus re- 
corded by Brewer. 

‘¢ The texture and certain other characters of wool 
which are of practical importance to manufacturers, 
depend in part on the breed and health of the animals, 
in part on the kind of food and on its uniformity of 
supply, and in part on local conditions of climate, 
soil, and forage. The wool grown in some regions is 
harsher than that grown in others, and this is certainly 
an acquired character in that it takes place in flocks 
taken from one region to another. I have specimens 
of wool alleged to have been taken from the same 


436 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


flock, the same individual animals, when pastured at 
two stations. The first were shorn when the sheep 
were pastured in southeastern Ohio, where the sheep 
were bred, a region noted for certain excellencies of 
its wool. Taken to a certain portion of Texas, and 
pastured on an alkaline soil, the wool of those sheep 
took another character, affecting both its texture and 
also its behavior with dyes. Treated in the same vats, 
as to dye, lac and mordant, the difference is very ob- 
vious. 

“A certain harshness. of the wools produced in 
some regions where the soil is alkaline or salt, the 
climate dry, and the forage plants characteristic of 
such regions, is widely known and is considered a de- 
fect by manufacturers. It is stated that when a flock 
is taken from a favorable region to such a less favor- 
able one the change in the character of the wool begins 
immediately, but is more marked in the succeeding 
fleeces than in the first. It is also alleged that the 
harshness increases with succeeding generations, and 
that the flocks which have inhabited such regions sev- 
eral generations produce naturally a harsher wool than 
did their ancestors, or do the new-comers. 

‘“«Now, in this case, the deterioration in successive 
generations cannot possibly be due to panmixia, the 
withdrawal of selection; on the contrary, selection 
goes on under the new conditions just as carefully as 
under the old, and often more so, for this is the means 
used to lessen the evil. 

‘«Tf this increase in the harshness of the wool of 
succeeding generations is due in part to the inheri- 
tance of an acquired character, it is very understand- 
able. That it is a congenital adventitious variation 


- HEREDITY. 437 


coincident in all the individuals of immense flocks, is 
a mathematical absurdity. 

‘We have an analogous regional character in the 
hoofs of horses. From early times it has been a known 
fact that the feet of horses produced in mountainous 
and hilly regions stand travel on hard roads and on city 
pavements better than those bred on softer low lands, 
however rich and fertile the latter may be. European 
writers of previous centuries are very specific on this 
point. Jacquet, over two centuries ago, cites it as a 
fact true alike in Spain, Italy, and other countries of 
Europe. I have interviewed the livery-stable men in 
various eastern cities as to the relative character in 
that particular of the horses bred in the hilly regions 
of New England, New York, and Pennsylvania, com- 
pared with those produced on the prairies, and the 
testimony is almost unanimous to the same effect. 
The old Vermont bred horses are still famous. 

‘« This regional character cannot be a matter of se- 
lection and adventitious variation. It must be related 
to the environment alone, and environment can only 
act on the living individual. If this fact is due to the 
inheritance of acquired characters, it is very easily 
understood. The different effects of exercise of the 
feet of the growing animal in the one case on the hard, 
stony soil of the hills, in the other, on the softer and 
fine soil of the prairies, makes a difference in the ac- 
quired characters, a difference of the very kind spoken 
of, and which becomes congenital.” 

At the close of this series of papers Brewer re- 
marks: ‘‘The art of breeding has become in a meas- 
ure an applied science; the enormous economic inter- 
ests involved stimulate observation and study, and 
what is the practical result? This ten years of active 


438 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


promulgation of the new theory has not resulted in the 
conversion of a single known breeder to the extent of 
inducing him to conform his methods and practice to 
the theory. My conclusion is that they are essentially 
right in their deductions founded on their experience 
and observations, namely, that acquired characters 
may be, and sometimes are, transmitted, and that the 
speculations of the Weismann school of naturalists are 
unfounded.” 


5 THE CONDITIONS OF INHERITANCE. 


Since the evidence adduced must be regarded as 
proving that characters acquired by an organism may 
be transmitted by inheritance, we next endeavor to 
ascertain what information is within our reach which 
can throw light on this mysterious process. Although 
Weismann has demonstrated the isolation and stability 
of the germ-plasma to exceed that of other tissues, he 
has not proven that it is entirely inaccessible to exter- 
nal influences. He admits that its continual subdivi- 
sion by the development from it of the embryonic 
soma, would have speedily reduced it to an infinitesi- 
mal quantity, were it not that it grows by accession of 
nutritive material like other tissues, which nutritive 
material is furnished by the soma. The accessibility 
of the germ-plasma to stimuli which affect the soma is 
then clearly possible. 

The effect of the specialization of tissues on their 
nutrition and repair after injury, is well known. Nu- 
trition of each tissue produces only that tissue. Re- 
pair or restoration of parts is confined to the repro- 
duction of a tissue similar to the part lost, or similar 
to some unfinished or embryonic stage of it. The 
lower we descend in the scale of life, the more com- 


HEREDITY. 439 


plete is the reproduction of a lost part. The special- 
ization of the higher organisms deprives the tissue of 
the capacity for exact reproduction. As an example 
of the reduction of this capacity, I cite the reproduc- 
tion of the tail of lizards, where no vertebrz are repro- 
duced, but in its place a notochord; while the squa- 
mation presents a simpler character than that of the 
normal tail. The possibility of reproducing the entire 
organism is restricted, in the multicellular animals, to 
the germ-plasma, which therefore may be regarded as 
retaining the characteristic of the protozoén, which 
reproduces itself by division. But in the multicellular 
plants the power of reproduction of the entire organ- 
ism from any of its parts, is retained to a much greater 
degree than in multicellular animals. The reproduc- 
tion of plants by cuttings, buds, tubers, and even by 
single leaves, is well known; a characteristic which is 
due to the general distribution of unspecialized proto- 
plasm throughout the organism. Inheritance of char- 
acters is in these cases known to be very exact, and 
there can be here no isolation of the germ-plasma. This 
isolation is progressively more pronounced as we rise 
in the scale of specialization of structure, but that it 
ever becomes absolute, the facts before us forbid us to 
believe. 

Having thus seen that the plasma of the germ-cells 
is open to the influence of stimuli, let us see how it is 
possible that such stimuli can be transmitted to it, and 
how they could affect growth, of the embryo. 

It has been shown that impressions experienced by 
an animal during one stage of development may be 
effective in causing the appearance of new structure in 
a later stage. I have already quoted (Chap. V.) from 
Poulton the results of experiments on the colors of 


440 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION 


Lepidoptera by several English entomologists. By 
exposure to different colors, of larvee which were ap- 
proaching the period of pupation, corresponding colors 
were produced in the pupe. Thus black, dark, green, 
and yellow larve, and larve with gilt spots or entirely 
gilded, were produced at will. In this instance the 
dynamic effect produced by the exposure was stored 
for the period which elapsed between the exposure of 
the larva and the full development of the pupa. In 
another experiment, larvee which were in the act of 
weaving cocoons, on exposure to certain colors, were 
induced to-weave cocoons of corresponding color. 
This experiment demonstrates that a stimulus may be 
transmitted to a gland so as to modify the character 
of its secretion in a new direction. From both experi- 
ments we learn the transmissibility of energy from the 
point of stimulus to a remote region of the body, and 
its conversion into growth energy (in this case by 
Physiogenesis). This prepares us to look upon hered- 
ity as an allied phenomenon, i. e., the transmission of 
a special energy from a point of stimulus to the germ- 
cells, and its composition there with the emphytogenic 
(inherited) energy into bathmism (or evolutionary en- 
ergy). | 

The relation of inherited and acquired characters 
in a series of generations may be graphically repre- 
sented as follows: Let S represent the aggregate of 
character of the body (soma) of a given species in pro- 
cess of progressive evolution or acceleration. Let g 
represent the aggregate of characters potential (or dy- 
namically present) in the germ cells of the same indi- 
vidual. For the sake of simplification of the problem 
I consider here only one sex, and imagine the repro- 
duction to be parthenogenetic. Let 4 represent the 


HEREDITY. 441 


new character acquired by the soma under the appro- 
priate stimulus, and let @ represent the same charac- 
teristic as it is impressed on the germ-plasma of the 
same individual at the same time, and in consequence 
of the same stimulus. The history of the acquisition 
and incorporation of newly acquired characters by the 
line of descent originating with the species Sg, may 
be represented as follows, for successive generations, 
which are numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. 

ISA + : 

2 ee gill : 


cg) 


3S + Cah a2 g3 
458 7” ca! a2 a3 at 
5§ i cal a2.q3.a9as 


oe 2A” 
Fig. 120.—Diagram explanatory of Diplogenesis. 


Under the appropriate stimulus the soma S acquires 
A, and the germ plasma g the identical a! as the first 
stage. The character 4a! being only inheritable va 
the germ-plasma, it is represented by a! in the second 
stage or generation, where it appears as an addition 
to the characters of S and g, so that the soma of the 
second generation is represented by the expression 
Sa}, and the germ-plasma by g(e1); (on the supposi- 


442 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


tion that .S.4-+ ga! represents the first of a line in which 
a given character appears). A new character or an 
additional increment of the same character, appears 
in the second stage of acceleration ‘‘2,” and is repre- 
sented as before, by 4a’, the 4 appearing in the soma, 
and the a? being added to the character of the germ- 
plasma. In the third stage, the new character a? ap- 
pears in the soma, which now becomes Sala?. The «? 
acquired by the germ-plasma of the second stage, is 
inherited by that of the third, which is therefore rep- 
resented by g(ala?). To the third stage is now added 
the acquisition 4a. The a? is again incorporated into 
the soma of the succeeding or fourth stage, which is 
therefore represented by the expression S a!a?a3; while 
the germ-plasma of the same (fourth, ‘ 4,’’) stage, is 
represented by g(aa’a®), and so on. The lines of im- 
mediate inheritance are represented by straight lines. 
The vertical lines represent the descent of characters 
from one type of the germ-plasma to a succeeding 
one; and the oblique lines represent the transmission 
of the same characters to the soma into which it grows, 
as the succeeding generation or stage. 

The letters a1, a, etc., expressive of characters ac- 
quired by the germ-plasma, are numbered for identifi- 
cation only. Should the influences derived from the 
ancestry of the other sex be added to the diagram its 
complexity would become inconvenient, and they are 
therefore omitted. It is to be also observed, that the 
enumeration of generations as immediately successive, 
as I-2-3 etc., is to be understood as indicating succes- 
sion only, and not any exact number of generations. 

In the hypothesis of heredity above outlined, it is 
insisted that the effects of use and disuse are two-fold ; 
viz.: the effect on the soma, and the effect on the 


‘ 


HEREDITY. 443 


germ-plasma. Those who sustain the view that ac- 
quired characters are inherited, must, I believe, un- 
derstand it as thus stated. The character must be 
potentially acquired by the germ-plasma as well as ac- 
tually by the soma. Those who insist that acquired 
characters are not inherited, forget that the character 
acquired by the soma is identical with that acquired 
by the germ-plasma, so that the character acquired by 
the former is inherited, but not directly. It is acquired 
contemporaneously by the germ-plasma, and inherited 
from it. There is then truth in the two apparently op- 
posed positions, and they appear to me to be harmon- 
ized by the doctrine above laid down, which I have 
called the Theory of Diplogenesis, in allusion to the 
double destination of the effects of use and disuse in 
inheritance. 

From the preceding considerations we learn that a 
new character is not inherited unless it is acquired by 
germ-plasma, as well as by the soma. Should it fail 
of the former it will not be inherited, although it may 
appear in the soma. It is also evident that the same 
character appears in the soma of later generations by 
virtue of its inheritance by their germ-plasma. Hence 
should it fail to appear in the adult soma of one gen- 
eration, it might arise in a later one; and hence the 
possibility of atavism, and an alternation of genera- 
tions. Intermittent stimulus might be followed by in- 
termittent activity of growth energy. This would be 
especially apt to occur during the assumption of sex- 
uality by animals and plants whose reproduction had 
been performed by cell-division or budding only. And 
such is the character, of most types of alternate gene- 
rations ; a sexual type alternates with a non-sexual 
type. The advantages being on the side of sexual re- 


444 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


production on account of its increased opportunity of 
variation, it has replaced the more primitive method 
by the process of natural selection. 

The time when the impressions of physical habits 
are conveyed to the reproductive elements has an im- 
portant bearing on the question of inheritance. Pro- 
fessor Osborn! has thus classified the agencies which 
lie at the basis of organic evolution. Opposite to each 
he states the theories which have been proposed to 
account for them: 


A, Ontogenic Variations, 


a, Gonagenic, i. e., those aris- 
ing in the germ-cells, including 
“blastogenic "' in part of Weis- 
mann, the ‘‘ primary variations” 
of Emery. 

6. Gamogenic, i.e., those aris- 
ing from maturation and fertili- 
zation, including the ‘‘ blasto- 
genic” in part of Weismann, 
and secondary or Weismannian 
variations of Emery. 

«. Embryogenic, i.e., those oc- 
curring during early cell-divi- 
sion, including the blastogenic 
and somatogenic of Weismann. 


d, Somatogenic, i.e., those oc- 
curring during larval and later 
development after the formation 
of the germ-cells. 


Theoretically connected with 
pathological, nutritive chemico- 
physical, nervous influences, in- 
cluding the doubtful phenomena 
of Xenia and Telegony. 


Theoretically connected with 
influences named above, also 
with the combination of diverse 
ancestral characters, Amphi- 
mixis of Weismann. 


Theoretically connected with 
extensive anomalies due to ab- 
normal segmentation, and other 
causes observed in the mechan- 
ical embryology of Roux, Wil- 
son, Driesch, and others. 

Connected with reactions be- 
tween the hereditary develop- 
ment forces of the individual 
and the environment. 


B. Phylogenic Variations, 


Variations from types originating in any of the above stages 


which become hereditary. 


American Naturalist, 1895, p. 426: ‘(On the Hereditary Mechanism and 
the Search for Unknown Factors of Evolution "' 


HEREDITY. 445 


Osborn points out that Buffon appealed to the 
‘‘direct action of the environment” as a cause of evo- 
lution, in so general a way, as to embrace all the con- 
ditions above enumerated. St. Hilaire dwelt on the 
embryogenic influences, while Lamarck laid stress on 
the somatogenic. Darwin only discussed variation 
after it came into being. 

The distinctions pointed out by Osborn relate to 
the period of life at which modifying influences are 
experienced ; that is, they are time distinctions. They 
must all, however, be included under two heads when 
the sources of influence are considered. That is, they 
must proceed from the organism itself, or from the en- 
vironment directly. Those proceeding from the or- 
ganism may also be divided into two classes, viz., 
those which are inherent in the physical and chemical 
characters of protoplasm, and those which have been 
acquired by generations prior to any given one under 
consideration. In this work I attend first to the prob- 
ably efficient or phylogenetic causes, and these may be 
regarded as having been at some time or another dur- 
ing the history of the phylum as somatogenic. On 
this view, I have regarded the life of an animal as 
uivided into three periods ; those of embryonic life, of 
adolescence, and of maturity. During embryonic life 
impressions are exclusively somatic, and can be only 
obtained through or from parental stimulus and parental 
environment. Such will reach the embryo through nu- 
trition, and through the direct mechanical contacts and 
strains of theenvironment. The environment of unpro- 
tected embryos is external to the parent; that of long 
protected embryos is the walls of the oviduct, uterus, 
etc., within the parent. Ryder has alleged with much 
reason that the nature of the contact of the chorion with 


446 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


the walls of the oviducts or uterus has determined the 
shape of the placenta ; and that the invagination of the 
embryo which resulted in the development of the am- 
nion is a result of gravitation. While these facts have 
an important bearing on the study of inheritance, they 
have but a collateral relation to evolution; since the 
embryo, whether in utero or in ovo, has little oppor- 
tunity of experiencing the external influences which are 
only possible at later periods of life. It is during ado- 
lescence that the normal activities of maturity, except 
reproduction, are first practised, whether inherited or 
learned for the first time. The superior capacity of the 
adolescent stage for acquisition in all directions is well 
known, and it is reasonable to suppose that since growth 
is not completed, changes in its details can be most 
readily introduced. It is tothis period of life then that 
we must look for the effective influence of the factors 
of evolution in the acquisition of new characters of the 
soma. And if the nervous, muscular and other tissues 
react at this period most readily to external stimuli, 
it is to be supposed that the developing reproductive 
cells possess the same characteristic, and record in 
their molecular movements the influences which are 
experienced by the entire body. Such influences on 
the reproductive cells, repeated millions of times from 
generation to generation, must produce a definite effect 
on them, in spite of the conservatism which their com- 
parative isolation imposes on them.! 

The transmission of acquired characters is evi- 
dently accomplished during the adult period. While 
the influence on the soma is greatest during ado- 
lescence, the influence on the germ-plasma is prob- 
ably important during maturity, because habits formed 


lAmerican Naturalist, December, 1889, ‘‘On Inheritance in Evolution.” 


HEREDITY. 447 


during adolescence are now practised with especial 
energy and frequency. The influence on the constantly 
renewed germ-plasma is correspondingly greater, and 
transmission is of course more certain. Some charac- 
ters seem to have been mainly acquired during matur- 
ity. Such is the permanent dentition of the higher 
Mammalia, which does not appear until or after ma- 
turity. In this case the influence of use on the germ- 
plasma must be more energetic than that on the soma. 
It is, however, not unlikely that the fundamental char- 
acters of mammalian dentition were laid during ado- 
lescence by direct influence on the temporary dentition. 
The tritubercular molar was established at that time 
and owes its present existence to inheritance. Only 
the sectorial and lophodont types have been added 
since the extensive development of the milk dentition 
in geologic time. 

The chief source from which acquired characters 
are introduced into the germ-plasma, and hence into 
the soma of the next generation, is probably the sper- 
matozo6id, since it is endowed with a greater kinetic 
energy than the ovum. The latter furnishes nutritive 
material for the supply of the needs of growth. That 
the male is the chief source of variation is also indi- 
cated in the numerous cases when he is more active 
than the female, and hence more capable of supplying 


the stimulus of use. 
The manner in which influences which have af- 


fected the general structure are introduced into the 
germ-cells remains the most difficult problem of biol- 
ogy. For its explanation we have nothing as yet but 
hypotheses. The one which has seemed to me to be 
the most reasonable belongs to the field of molecular 
physics, and it must be long before it is either proved 


448 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


or disproved. I have termed it a ‘‘dynamic theory,” 
and it is in some respects similar to that subsequently 
proposed by Haeckel under the name of the ‘peri- 
genesis of the plastidule.” I have already referred to 
the phenomena of the building or growth of the added 
characters which constitute progressive evolution as 
evidence of the existence of a peculiar species of en- 
ergy, which I termed bathmism. This is to be ex- 
plained as a mode of motion of the molecules of living 
protoplasm, by which the latter build tissue at par- 
ticular points, and do not do so at other points. This 
action is most easily observed in the beginnings of 
growth, as in the segmentation of the odsperm, the 
formation of the blastodermic layers, of the gastrula, 
of the primitive groove, etc. In the meroblastic em- 
bryo the energy is evidently in excess at one part of 
the odsperm, and in defect at another. This is a sim- 
ple example of the ‘‘location of growth force or bath- 
mism.” In all folding or invagination there is ex- 
cess of growth at the region which becomes the con- 
vex face of the fold; i. e., a location or especial ac- 
tivity of bathmism at that point. All modifications of 
form can be thus traced to activity of this energy at 
particular points. A basis is thus laid for a more or 
less complex organism, and the channels of nutritive 
pabulum being once estabiished, the location or dis- 
tribution of the energy is assured in the directions in 
which they lead. Thus with the establishment of cir- 
culating channels nutrition is definitely guided to par- 
ticular points. It is evident that on this hypothesis 
the bases of evolutionary change are laid in the em- 
bryonic tissues, where bathmism displays its activity 
in producing the base forms on which all subsequent 
structure is moulded. 


HEREDITY, 449 


The building energy being thus understood to bea 
mode of molecular motion, we are not at liberty to 
suppose that its existence is dependent on the dimen- 
sions of the organic body which exhibits it. It is as char- 
acteristic of the organic unit or plastidule as the mode 
of motion which builds the crystal is of the simplest 
molecular aggregate from which the crystal arises. 
Bathmism has, however, no other resemblance to 
crystalloid cohesion. The latter is a simple energy 
which acts within geometrically related spaces, with- 
out regard to anything else but the present compulsion 
of superior weight-energy. In bathmism we see the 
resultant of innumerable antecedent influences, which 
builds an organism constructed for adaptations to the 
varied and irregularly occurring contingencies which 
characterize the life of living beings. As this resultant 
is distinctive for every species, bathmism must be 
regarded as a generic term, and the characteristic 
growth-energy of each species as distinct species of 
energy, which presents also diversities expressive of 
the peculiarities of individuals. 

The preceding statements do not, of course, con- 
stitute an explanation of the exact manner in which a 
stimulus which effects say the contraction of a muscle, 
effects molecular movements of the nuclei of the re- 
productive cells. This is a question of organic molec- 
ular physics, a science which has made scarcely a be- 
ginning. That the transmission of such influence is 
through nutritive channels, by the intermediation of a 
nervous structure where one exists, may be supposed. 
Poulton’s experiments on Lepidoptera, already cited, 
led him to believe that the effect of color-environment ' 
was transmitted to the pigment-cells through the me- 
dium of the nervous system. That the modus operandi 


450 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


is similar to that which produces reflexes may be also 
reasonably supposed. How the record of these move- 
ments become reflexes, is concentrated in a reproduc- 
tive cell, is a question to be solved only in a more ad- 
vanced stage of knowledge of organic physics than we 
now possess. 

Speculation in this direction takes the following 
forms. According to one view the energy or molecu- 
lar movement must be transmitted to the germ-plasma 
through a material or molecular basis. This basis, it 
may be supposed, must be that which receives the 
mechanical impression which is to produce a corre- 
sponding modification of growth-energy in the ovum 
or spermatozoéid; that is, in the case of a modified 
bone-articulation, particles of matter must pass from 
the latter through the medium of the circulation to 
the reproductive cells. The alternative hypothesis is, 
that the energy which causes the active region to make 
or omit to make a given movement, the result of which 
is to be structural modification in the young, is im- 
pressed through protoplasmic channels on the germ- 
cells of either sex. In this case the transmission of 
particles of matter is not necessary, as material connec- 
tion through the cells, nervous or other, already exists. 

To the first of these points of view belong the pan- 
genesis theory of Darwin, and the modified pangenesis 
of Weismann. These hypotheses present the difficulty 
that we must conceive of each particle or ‘‘gemmule” 
derived from a given part of the organism finding its 
way through the circulation to its exact place in the 
growing embryo; or otherwise, of transmitting its pe- 
culiar mode of motion to the correct molecules of the 
embryo, without error as to locality. The difficulties 
to be encountered in accomplishing such a feat seem 


HEREDITY. 451 


to be insuperable. Hyatt well expresses these in the 
following language: ‘Every purely corpuscular throng 

- must not only account for a difficulty as great as 
that of the camel and the needle’s eye, but must also 
account for putting the numberless characters derived 
from the entire caravan of its immediate progenitors 
and remote wild ancestors and their progenitors back 
to the origin of their phylum, through the same nar- 
row tunnel. This physical difficulty is still further 
enhanced by the fact that the ova and spermatozoa do 
not increase in size in proportion to the increasing 
number of characters transmitted.” (Proc. Boston Soc. 
WV. H., 1893, p. 70.) 

The transmission of a mode of motion organized in 
a central nervous system, is less inconceivable. This 
central system is the seat of a composition of incoming 
stimuli and of outgoing energies, the resultant of both 
combined constituting the active agency in the pro- 
duction of automatic adaptive or intelligent adaptive 
movements of any and allof the organs. It appears 
to me that we can more readily conceive of the trans- 
mission of a resultant form of energy of this kind to 
the germ-plasma than of material particles or gem- 
mules. Such a theory is sustained by the known cases 
of the influence of maternal impressions on the grow- 
ing foetus. Going into greater detail, we may compare 
the building of the embryo to the unfolding of a record 
or memory, which is stored in the central nervous or- 
ganism of the parent, and impressed in greater or less 
part on the germ-plasma during its construction, in the 
order in which it was stored. This record may be 
supposed to be woven into the texture of every organic 
cell, and to be destroyed by specialization in modified 
cells in proportion as they are incapable of repro- 


452 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


ducing anything but themselves. The basis of mem- 
ory is reasonably supposed to be a molecular (or 
atomic) arrangement from which can issue only a 
definite corresponding mode of motion. That such 
an arrangement exists in the central nervous organism 
is demonstrated by automatic and reflex movements. 
It is also demonstrated by the fact that the memory 
of the position and parts of amputated limbs is re- 
tained by the sensory center, so that irritation of the 
stump is referred to the lost limb. That the entire 
record is not repeated in automatic and reflex acts, 
but only that part of it which was last acquired, may 
be regarded as due to the muscular and other systems 
concerned in it having performed it most recently, and 
having for a longer or shorter period omitted to per- 
form the older movement, because the latest struc- 
tures of the organs would render the performance of 
the old movements impossible. In other words, the 
physiological division of labor extends to memory at 
the basis. In the case of the germ-plasma no other 
specialization exists, so that the entire record may be 
repeated stage after stage, thus producing the succes- 
sion of type-structures which embryology has made 
familiar to us. In the process of embryonic growth, 
one mode of motion would generate its successor in 
obedience to the molecular structural record first laid 
down in the ovum and spermatozooid, and then com- 
bined and recomposed on the union of the two in the 
odspore, or fertilized ovum. 

If the doctrine of kinetogenesis be true, this energy 
has been moulded by the interaction of the living be- 
ing and its environment. It is the recorded expression 
of the habitual movements of the organism which, have 
become impressed on, and recorded in, the reproduc- 


HEREDITY. 453 


tive elements. It is evident that these and the other or- 
ganic units of which the organism is composed possess 
a memory-structure which determines their destiny in 
the building of theembryo. This is indicated by the re- 
capitulation of the phylogenetic history of its ancestors 
displayed in embryonic growth. This memory has 
perhaps the same molecular basis as the conscious 
memory, but for reasons unknown to us, consciousness 
does not preside over its activities. The energy which 
follows its guidance has become automatic, and it 
builds what it builds with the same regardlessness of 
immediate surroundings as that which is displayed by 
the crystallific growth-energy. It is incapable of a 
new design, except as an addition to its record. 

Were all cells identical in characters, every one 
would retain the'’structural record, or memory of its 
past physical history, as do the unicellular organisms. 
Evolution has, however, so modified most of the struc- 
tural units of the organic body that none but the ner- 
vous and reproductive cells retain this record, in 
greater or less perfection. The nervous cells have 
been specialized as the recipients of new impressions, 
and the excitors of definite corresponding movements 
in the cells of the remainder of the organism. The 
somatic cells retain only the record or memory of their 
special function. On the other hand, the reproduc- 
tive cells, which most nearly resemble the independent 
unicellular organisms, retain first the impressions re- 
ceived during their primitive unicellular ancestral con- 
dition; and second, those which they have acquired 
through the organism of which they have been and are 
only a part. The medium through which they can 
receive such impression is continuous protoplasm. 
Whether, in the higher animals, it is effected through 


cy 


454 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


that system of cells called the nervous system, which 
has been specialized through use and natural selection 
to receive impressions from without, and to transmit 
them to such parts of the organism as are capable of 
receiving them, or whether it is transmitted through 
other media, as in lower animals and in plants which 
possess no such system, is unknown. The only cells 
which can retain the entire record in the higher ani- 
mals are the reproductive cells. In the lower animals 
and plants it is well known that germ-plasma is not 
confined to reproductive organs, but is widely dissemi- 
nated throughout the organism. In some forms it 
seems that all of the sarcode is capable of reproduction. 
This is the logical result of the considerations 
which have occupied the preceding pages, and is the 
carrying out of the bathmism theory of heredity, of 
which I have given hitherto only the bare outline. 
Since Darwin, successive contributions have been 
made to the theory of heredity in its relation to evolu- 
tion. In 1868 and 1871 the present writer advanced 
the dynamic hypothesis, but made no attempt to ex- 
plain the mode of conveyance of dynamic impressions 
and modifications to the germ-cells. The theory of 
“‘ perigenesis,’’ proposed by Haeckel in 1873, is of the 
same character, and is deficient in the same way. The 
modified pangenesis theory of Brooks, published in 
1883,! attempts to supply the defect found in the pre- 
vious conceptions, but does so by assuming with Dar- 
win the intermediation of gemmules, a hypothesis to 
which sufficient objection has been made by Galton 
and others. Brooks’s theory also fails to admit the 
origin of variations through mechanical stresses, al- 
though he seeks for the origin of gemmules through. 


1The Law of Heredity, Baltimore, 1883, p. 80. 


HEREDITY 455 


the lack of equilibrium between the organization and 
its environment, which embraces that proposition 
without definite specification. To Weismann we are 
indebted for the exposition of the separate origin and 
relative isolation of the germ-plasma, but no sufficient 
explanation of the origin and inheritance of new char- 
acters is offered. Ryder! has especially dwelt on the 
physiological division of labor seen in the tissues of 
the organism, and on the special function of the germ- 
plasma as the recipient of impressions through the 
processes of metabolism; but he does not go into 
greater detail. 

What is true of the somatic cells is also true of 
those which follow immediately the segmentation of 
the odsperm. Each division contains the entire record, 
until a point is reached in which specialization of its 
growth-capacities begins. 

Dr. Chalmers Mitchell thus discusses the question 
as to the location of specialized growth in the oésperm :? 

‘¢Loeb uses the term heteromorphosis to denote 
the power of organisms, under the stimulus of outer 
conditions, to produce organs on parts of the organism 
where they do not occur normally, or the power to re- 
place lost parts by parts unsimilar to them. Regenera- 
tion is the reproduction of like parts. Heteromorpho- 
sis is the reproduction of unlike parts. 

“Tf one cuts off part of the stem of almost any 
plant, on placing the stem in suitable soil, roots will 
grow out, although roots are not natural to that part 
of the stem. The prothallus of fern produces the male 
and female organs on the lower side turned away from 
the light. If the prothallus be darkened on the upper 


1 American Naturalist, 1890, p. 85. 
2 Natural Sczence, 1894, p. 187. 


456 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


surface, and illumined by reflected light on the lower 
surface, then the antheridia and archegonia will be 
produced on the upper surface. Galls are produced 
under the stimulus of the insect almost anywhere on 
the surface of the plant. Yet in most cases these galls, 
in a sense grown at‘random on the surface of a plant, 
when placed in damp earth will give rise to a young 
plant. Inthe hydroid, Tudularia mesembryanthemum, 
when the polyp-heads are cut off, new heads arise. 
But if both head and root be cut off, and the upper end 
be inserted in the mud, then from the original upper 
end not head-polyps, but root-filaments, will arise, 
while from the original lower end, not root-filaments, 
but head-polyps will grow. In Ciona intestinalis, round 
a slit cut into the body-wall, a tubular process grew out, 
forming a new mouth, while around the base of this, a 
series of eye-spots, corresponding to the eye-spots 
round the real mouth, appeared. In all these cases, 
it is plain that there were present in parts affected, the 
determinants, to use Weismann’s term, not only of the 
normal parts, but also of parts, which, under normal 
conditions, would never have appeared there; and 
these new parts growing in the unwonted places bore 
the normal species-stamp as characteristically as sim- 
ilar parts grown in their normal places. It can hardly 
be supposed that the architecture of the germ-plasm 
contains special determinants to be ready for occur- 
rences so casual, especially as these are called into 
existence by circumstances quite foreign to the normal 
environment of the organisms. On the other hand, 
the facts are consonant with Hertwig’s belief that, as 
all division is heirs-equal division, all the species- 
characters that depend upon cells are latent in every 
cell. 


HEREDITY. 457 


‘‘The experiments of Driesch, Wilson, and Hert- 
wig upon the early stages of developing ova show that 
heteromorphosis begins with the very earliest divisions 
of the egg. Thus Driesch, working upon echinoderm 
embryos, was able to flatten out the stage where there 
was a sphere of sixteen cells into a flat plate where all 
the cells were in the same plane. In such a plate, the 
nuclei of the cells occupied relative positions very dif- 
ferent from the normal conditions. Yet from these 
Driesch obtained normal plutei larve. It was, in fact, 
as if the cells could be pushed about like billiard balls 
without destroying the future shape and characters of 
the embryo. Did each cell contain only the determi- 
nants that would correspond to the structures that 
would arise from it under normal conditions then 
change of its normal position would have arrested de- 
velopment. Each cell must, on the other hand, have 
contained the determinants for all the animal, and 
have allowed those to come into operation that were 
required by the new positions into which the cells were 
forced. Driesch, by separating the first two and the 
first four segmentation-spheres of an Echinus ovum, 
obtained two or four normal plutei, respectively one- 
half and a quarter of the normal size. Here again 
each sphere must have contained all the determinants 
for the whole organism. Heirs-equal division must 
have occurred. So, also, in the case of Amphioxus, 
Wilson obtained a normal, but proportionately dimin- 
ished, embryo with complete nervous system from a 
separated sphere of a two or four or eight-celled 
stage. 

‘‘Hertwig himself, some years ago, published the 
results of experiments he made upon the development 
of frogs’ eggs under abnormal conditions. He showed 


458 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


that there could be no question of imperative divisions 
separating the germ-plasm into right and left halves, 
and so forth, but that the method of division was de- 
termined by pressures and relative gravities. Altera- 
tion of these made the ova divide into novel but sym- 
metrical forms. Chabry obtained normal embryos in 
cases where some of the segmentation-spheres had 
been artificially destroyed. 

‘¢ These cases all show that in its possibilities each 
segmentation-sphere is identical; that as a result of 
heirs-equal division, each cell contains all the material | 
necessary to cause the development of a complete em- 
bryo. Weismann would have to suppose that in all 
these cases, in addition to its half of the nuclear mat- 
ter resulting from heirs-equal division, it had also a 
stock of unaltered germ-plasm ready to be called into 
activity by unwonted stimuli. But even this hypothesis 
would not account for cells distorted by compression 
responding with the production of unwonted symme- 
tries.” 


6. OBJECTIONS TO THE DOCTRINE OF INHERITANCE 
OF ACQUIRED CHARACTERS. 


I will now mention some objections to the theory 
of epigenesis, or the inheritance of acquired charac- 
ters. Some of them appear at first to have consider- 
able force, but the explanations which have been of- 
fered seem to me to be sufficient. 

Weismann’s merit consists in having directed at- 
tention to the isolation and continuity of the germ- 
plasma, factors which must be taken account of in any 
theory of inheritance. The continuity of reproductive 
function which this substance displays is a fact of great 


« 


HEREDITY. 459 


interest, and one which has given rise to the statement 
that it is under normal conditions, immortal. 

Isolation of the germ-plasma is however doubt- 
fully complete anywhere, and in the vegetable king- 
dom it scarcely exists. Most plants may be propa- 
gated either by roots, cuttings, bulbs, buds, or even 
by leaves. The germ-plasma is evidently as widely 
distributed in these multicellular organisms, as it is in 
a Protozoén. The greater degree of isolation exhib- 
ited by the higher animals is one of their many spe- 
cializations, but that it is not complete is shown by the 
facts already cited in the preceding pages. The con- 
tinuity of protoplasm in the organism is likely to be 
true of the germ-cells as of other cells; and they are 
not deprived of nutrition, so that they are evidently 
accessible to influences from or through the soma. As 
regards the immortality of the Protozoén there is rea- 
son to believe, that like its descendent the germ-cell, 
it requires renewal from another cell to escape death. 
According to Maupas, the Protozoa after reproducing 
by self-division for many generations, require conju- 
gation, or they dwindle and die. 

The old formula that variation is due to ‘‘natural 
selection and heredity” has derived new life from the 
fact that sexual conjugation is necessary for the re- 
newal of the vitality of the ovarian cell. It is sup- 
posed by Weismann that variation as well as repro- 
ductive energy is introduced in this way, the process 
being termed by him Amphimixis. But like the old 
formula this explains nothing, for if the parents are 
the sources of variation, the question as to the source 
of the variation is simply relegated to the parents for 
answer. Moreover, Brooks, who made this suggestion 
prior to Weismann, points out that it has less force 


460 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


than appears at first sight to belong to it. He shows! 
that the ancestors of the individuals of a given species 
are in greater or less degree identical persons, and 
that they are on this account less numerous than has 
been sometimes assumed. Thus, if the population of 
a given district had for ten generations married first 
cousins, the total ancestry of each person for that 
pericd would number only thirty-eight persons. If, 
on the contrary, all the ancestors of each person had 
been distinct individuals, the total number of ances- 
tors in ten generations would be two thousand and 
forty-six persons. An investigation into the ancestry 
of three persons, not nearly related, living on an island 
on the Atlantic coast where the records are complete 
for seven and eight generations, shows that the ances- 
try of each of the three averages only three hundred 
and eighty-two persons. That this consideration is of 
even greater importance in estimating the ancestry of 
the lower animals than in man, is evident from the 
fact that no consideration of kinship modifies their re- 
productive habits. 

The fact that mutilations are not generally inherited 
is cited as evidence against the inheritance of acquired 
characters. A particular mutilation, however, as al- 
ready remarked, rarely happens more than once or 
twice in the lifetime of a single individual; in fact its 
occurrence more than once is, in many cases, as in 
amputations, impossible. Such sporadic events must 
necessarily have little influence as stimuli to the organ- 
ism, in comparison with the habitual movements of ani- 
mals, or the continued exposure to especial physical 
conditions, as is experienced by both plants and ani- 
mals, and are not worth considering in this connection. 


1 Science, 1895, February, p. 121. 


HEREDITY. 461 


One of the cases which is cited in opposition to the 
view here sustained, is the alleged fact that the artifi- 
cial contraction of the feet undergone by high-caste 
Chinese female children, resulting in deformity of the 
feet of the women, is not inherited. That this abnor- 
mality has never been transmitted has not yet been 
satisfactorily shown ; but in any case there are some 
reasons why it should not be inherited. One of these 
is, that the deformity is confined to one sex. The 
male, who is without it, has the advantage of an an- 
cestry possessing normal feet extending backwards 
indefinitely, while the modification of the female is a 
very modern interference with the law of the species. 
Moreover, a positive stimulus to ontogenetic growth, 
such as is in this instance furnished by the male, is 
always likely to be prepotent as.compared with the 
negative part played by the female. 

Professor Poulton, whose interesting experiments 
in the production of color changes in lepidopterous 
larve and pupa have been previously cited, states that 
none of the color varieties which he has obtained, have 
been inherited. I cannot regard this result as con- 
clusive until the experiments have been continued for 
a longer period than has yet been possible to devote 
to them. 

Perhaps the strongest case that can be made out 
against the theory of use-inheritance as defended in 
the present book, is that of the variety of structure 
displayed by the neuter members of the colonies of 
ants and termites. Mr. W. P. Ball describes these 
briefly as follows: 1 

‘«But there happens to be a tolerably clear proof 
that such changes as the evolution of complicated 


1The Effects of Use and Disuse, Nature Series, 1890, p. 24. 


462 PRIMARY FACTORS OF GRGANIC EVOLUTION. 


structures and habits and social instincts can take 
place independently of use-inheritance. The wonder- 
ful instincts of the working-bees have apparently been 
evolved (at least in all their later social complications 
and developments) without the aid of use-inheritance— 
nay, in spite of its utmost opposition. Working-bees, 
being infertile ‘neuters,’ cannot, as a rule, transmit 
their own modifications and habits. They are de- 
scended from countless generations of queen-bees and 
drones, whose habits have been widely different from 
those of the workers, and whose structures are dissim- 
ilar in various respects. In many species of ants there 
are two, and in the leaf-cutting ants of Brazil there 
are three, kinds of neuters which differ from each other 
and from their male and female ancestors ‘to an al- 
most incredible degree.’! The soldier caste is distin- 
guished from the workers by enormously large heads, 
very powerful mandibles, and extraordinarily different 
instincts. In the driver ant of West Africa one kind 
of neuter is three times the size of the other, and has 
jaws nearly five times as long. In another case, ‘the 
workers of one caste alone carry a wonderful sort of 
shield on their heads.’ One of the three neuter classes 
in the leaf-cutting ants has a single eye in the midst of 
its forehead. In certain Mexican and Australian ants 


1 Origin of Species, pp. 230-232; Bates's Naturalist on the Amazons. Dar- 
win is surprised that no one has hitherto advanced the demonstrative case of 
neuter insects against the well-known doctrine of inherited habit as advanced 
by Lamarck. As he justly remarks, ‘‘it proves that with animals, as with 
plants, any amount of modification may be effected by the accumulation of 
numerous slight, spontaneous variations, which are in any way profitable, 
without exercise or habit having been brought into play. For peculiar habits 
confined to workers, however long they might be followed, could not possibly 
affect the males and fertile females, which alone leave any descendants.” 
Some slight modification of these remarks, however, may possibly be needed 
to meet the case of ‘‘factitious queens,’’ who (probably through eating par- 
ticles of the royal food) become capable of producing a few male eggs. 


HEREDITY. 463 


some of the neuters have high spherical abdomens, 
which serve as living reservoirs of honey for the use of 
the community. In the equally wonderful case of the 
termites, or so-called ‘white ants’ (which belong, how- 
ever, to an entirely different order of insects from the 
ants and bees), the neuters are blind and wingless, 
and are divided into soldiers and workers, each class 
possessing the requisite instincts and structures adapt- 
ing it for its tasks. Seeing that natural selection can 
form and maintain the various structures and the ex- 
ceedingly complicated instincts of ants and bees and 
wasps and termites in direct defiance of the alleged 
tendency to use-inheritance, surely we may believe 
that natural selection, unsupported by use-inheritance, 
is equally competent for the work of complex or social 
or mental evolution in the many cases where the strong 
presumptive evidence cannot be rendered almost in- 
disputable by the exceptional exclusion of the modified 
animal from the work of reproduction. 

«‘Ants and bees seem to be capable of altering their 
habits and methods of action much as men do. Bees 
taken to Australia cease to store honey after a few 
years’ experience of the mild winters. Whole com- 
munities of bees sometimes take to theft, and live by 
plundering hives, first killing the queen to create dis- 
may among the workers. Slave ants attend devotedly 
to their captors and fight against their own species. 
Forel reared an artificial ant-colony made up of five 
different and more or less hostile species. Why can- 
not a much more intelligent animal modify his habits 
far more rapidly and comprehensively without the aid 
of a factor which is clearly unnecessary in the case of 
the more intelligent of the social insects.” 

The explanation of this phenomenon will be prob- 


464 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


ably some day found by paleontological discovery. 
We may suppose, on the basis of discoveries already 
made in other animals, that the primitive ants and 
termites presented homogeneous colonies, and that 
the varied structures which they present to-day have 
been primarily due to the usual process of specializa- 
tion through use-inheritance. It is necessary to sup- 
pose that the varied functions of the different members 
of the community have modified the structures of the 
parts essential to their performance. It is probable 
that the earliest ants in an early geologic period be- 
came soldiers under the usual exigencies of their strug- 
gle for existence, and having thus secured a place in 
the economy of nature, certain members of the com- 
munities underwent degenerative changes, appropriate 
to their respective functions, of a less exacting charac- 
acter. In a second stage of evolution the community 
would present the character of a family of varied forms 
all of whose members would produce any or all of the 
types of form to be found in it, under slight diversi- 
ties of conditions, just as now, all species produce 
young of two sexes. The differences between the 
members of an ant community are considerable in ap- 
pearance, but not so great essentially as that between 
sexes. 

Finally, in a third stage of the history, the func- 
tions of reproduction come to be the special office of 
afew members of the community. This may have 
been due to starvation, or to excessive labor on the 
part of certain individuals aborting the reproductive 
powers; but whatever may have been the cause, a 
majority of individuals became sterile. The repro- 
ducing members of the community, however, have 
continued to produce all the forms of the community. 


HEREDITY, 465 


They produce sterile workers and soldiers, sometimes 
of several forms, although themselves unlike most of 
their progeny. ‘‘This,’”’ says Mr. Ball, ‘‘is evidence 
that inheritance can have no share in the process.” He 
believes that each one of the structural types of the 
community is produced by the treatment accorded to— 
the young by the workers, each generation for itself. 

As we have seen that the embryonic and paleonto- 
logic histories distinctly negative the idea that each 
generation has been produced by itself without inheri- 
tance, let us endeavor to read the riddle in the light 
of the knowledge we have gained from paleontology. 
I assume that the most specialized types, the soldiers, 
represent the type of the species in Mesozoic and pos- 
sibly earlier time. They are already known from early 
Cenozoic formations (Scudder). The process of change 
into workers and breeders has been degenerative. I 
suppose, however, that in ants, as in the case of many 
other animals, slight differences in the supply of nutri- 
tive energy will prevent or produce these degenerative 
processes, as it appears to do in the case of the pro- 
duction of the sexes. (Experiments on lepidopterous 
larve have shown that excessive food supply produces 
females, and deficient supply produces males). In 
bees the larve of the female (queen) receives the larg- 
est food supply ; those of the males less ; and those of 
the neuters the least of all. How the food supply 
came to be varied so as to produce the several types 
in accordance with the exigencies of the community, 
is a question to be solved by future research. Perhaps 
it was due to variations in the supplies available at 
particular times of the year; and perhaps the ants ul- 
timately learned the secret, and now practice it intelli- 
gently. It is enough for my present purpose to have 


1 


466 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


shown that the basis of the entire community, the most 
specialized form, the original fertile soldier, acquired 
his characters in the usual way, by use, and that all 
other forms have been derived from him by inheritance 
modified by disuse, or degeneracy, under the influence 
of variations in the food supply. 

This reply to Mr. Ball’s argument was made by 
me at a meeting of the Philadelphia Academy of Nat- 
ural Sciences on May 23, 1893. In the latter part of 
the same year an almost identical answer was pub- 
lished by Herbert Spencer. My remarks were not pub- 
lished until the end of the year. 

Mr. A. R. Wallace! presents the fact of change of 
character under external stimulus as evidence of the 
non-inheritance of acquired characters. Thus he cites 
the cases of change of species of Artemia, in conse- 
quence of increased salinity of water (antea, p. 229) ; 
and of the change of color of a Texan Saturnia, when 
its normal food-plant /uglans nigra was replaced by 
J. regia. Under the new conditions the old characters 
were not continued. In the same way the appearance 
of all new characters might be assumed to prove non- 
inheritance of the old ones. The obvious interpretation 
of these facts is the one generally given them ; that is, 
they demonstrate the superior potency of certain new 
stimuli over the inherited type of growth-energy. They 
demonstrate that the energy of inheritance is not un- 
changeable in its type, which is the condition of the 
possibility of evolution. They do not demonstrate 
that acquired characters cannot be inherited. 

Objections have been made to the supposition that 
the simian characters of the lower human races are 
due to inheritance because it has been shown that 


1 Nature, 1893, p. 267. 


HEREDITY. 467 


some of them are due to mechanical causes acting 
after birth. 

The demonstration of the mechanical origin of a 
given peculiarity, however, by no means precludes 
that such peculiarity may not be an inheritance from 
or reversion to pithecoid ancestors. It has been al- 
ready pointed out that all of the form characters of 
the vertebrate skeleton, and for that matter, of the 
hard parts of all animals, have been produced by mus- 
cular pressures and contractions, and the friction, 
strains, and impacts, due to these. The demonstra- 
tions by Virchow and others that such is the origin of 
the platycnemic human tibia, is directly in the line of 
Neo-Lamarckian evolutionary doctrine, and shows us 
that atavistic and reversionary characters are found in 
the muscular system as well as in the skeleton. Such 
characters are inheritable as well as those of the skel- 
eton. But the characters of the skeleton can generally 
be shown to be inherited, because they appear before 
birth, and are found at some stage or another of fcetal 
life. The later appearance of the muscular structures 
in the ontogeny, is simply a case of cenogeny, where 
the record has been falsified by retardation of the parts 
in question. 

The variations in the characters of the human skel- 
eton are of very various significance and value, and 
the zodlogist and paleontologist can perceive that they 
are sometimes misinterpreted by archeologists. Thus 
the presence of wormian (Inca) bones, and of a per- 
foration of the olecranar fossa, have no zodlogical 
value; while the prognathous jaws, tritubercular mo- 
lar, and platycnemic tibia have such avalue. The 
tufted hair of the negro has a human value only, as it 
does not occur in any of the Quadrumana. But arche- 


468 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


ologists who are not zodlogists are not careful to point 
out these distinctions. 

If the platycnemic tibia has been produced by mus- 
cular pressure in man, it has been probably so pro- 
duced in the apes, where it is a universal character. 
If the early fusion of the sagittal suture is produced 
by the vigorous contractions of the temporal muscle 
as suggested by Brinton, in the black race, due to 
prognathous jaws, this is probably why it is a universal 
character of the apes, where the jaws are still more 
prognathous. What may be the cause of prognathism 
is not explained by archeologists, but has been dis- 
cussed in my book on the Origin of the Fittest, and by 
Dr. C. S. Minot. That the prognathous jaws and 
platycnemic tibia are not found in the foetus by no 
means proves that they are not inherited characters. 
Besides the fact already mentioned, that we are by 
this only thrown back on an inherited muscular struc- 
ture, it is further to be remarked that characters which 
indicate the evanescence or degeneracy of parts, do 
not usually appear in the fcetus, but are disclosed at 
later stages. The prognathous jaws are disappearing 
from the higher races, and the process of disappear- 
ance is in this point accomplished by a retention of 
the foetal face, which is excessively orthognathous. 
Prognathism is characteristic of most of the lower 
Mammalia, and whenever man displays it, if he be, as 
evolutionists believe, descended from some other mam- 
mal, he is simply continuing to develop the old char- 
acter in the old manner. The same reasoning applies 
to the platycnemic tibia and the tritubercular molar. 

As regards the lemurine character of the trituber- 
cular molar, the term is a good one, as indicating the 
nearest of kin to man which present such molars. But 


HEREDITY. 469 


this type can with equal propriety be called, as I have 
shown, the primitive placental molar. The lemur is 
the highest form next to man which displays it, but it 
was universal among the placentals at one geological 
epoch. It is possible that Topinard’s suggestion as 
to the cause of its appearance in man is the correct 
one, as I made the same many years before, but that 
does not affect its value as an evidence of reversion, 
as in the cases already cited. There are various other 
ways in which molar teeth may degenerate, besides 
reversion to trituberculy, with which dentists are fa- 
miliar, and which may be explained as Topinard and 
I have done ; i. e., by change of food; but why the 
regular and normal mode should be trituberculy, and 
not one of those other modes, requires additional ex- 
planation. This explanation is that a regular or nor- 
mal retrogressive modification of a structure is likely 
to be areturn on the line by which it advanced. This 
is atavism or reversion. 

That the anthropoids have been directly derived 
by descent from the false lemurs rather than from the 
Old World monkeys (Cercopithecidz) is probable for 
various reasons which I have pointed out on page 157. 
I mention now that this view is somewhat confirmed 
by the recent discovery by Forsyth-Major, in Mada- 
gascar, in beds of Plistocene age, of a skull of a new 
genus of Lemuride with tritubercular molars, whose 
single species is nearly as large as a chimpanzee. 

In closing these remarks, I call attention to the 
frequent muscular and occasional cerebral anomalies 
found in the negro, which are of simian character, and 
which indicate simian descent. An excellent synopsis 
of these has been given by Dr. Frank Baker in his 
address at Cleveland in 1888 as Vice-President of the 


470 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


American Association for the Advancement of Science, 
and by Prof. H. F. Osborn in 1891 in the Cartwright 
lecture before the New York College of Physicians. 

It is evident that evolutionists are reaching greater 
harmony of opinion on the question of inheritance. 
In fact, the discussion is sometimes a logomachy de- 
pendent on the significance which one attaches to 
the term ‘‘acquired characters.” Thus Von Rath! re- 
marks: ‘There is nothing in the way of the opinion 
that by the continued working of such external in- 
fluences and stimuli the molecular structure of the 
germ-plasma also experiences a change which can lead 
to a transmission of transformations. Above all, it 
ought not to be forgotten in this case that the somatic 
cells are in no way the first to be modified by the stim- 
ulus, and that then by some sort of unexplained pro- 
cess (pangenesis or intracellular pangenesis), this 
stimulus is transmitted gradually by these cells to the 
plasma of the germ-cells. The influence on the germ- 
plasm is rather a direct one, and if by continued in- 
fluence a transformation of the structure of this plasm 
takes place and transmission occurs, we have then 
simply a transmission of blastogenic, and by no means 
of somatogenic characters, and therein is not the 
slightest admission of the transmission of acquired 
characters.” 

This paragraph contains an admission of the doc- 
trine of diplogenesis, and does not regard the phe- 
nomena as including a transmission of acquired char- 
acters. Nevertheless the stimuli traverse the soma in 
order to reach the germ-plasma. Such an energy is 
evidently then not of blastogenic origin, although it is 


1 Berichte der naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Freiburg in Baden, Bd.VI., 
Heft 3. 


HEREDITY. 471 


such in its effects. Moreover, Von Rath omits to men- 
tion the fact that in traversing the soma, the stimulus, 
frequently, if not always, produces effects on the latter 
similar to those which it produces on the germ-plasma. 
I should call this process the inheritance of an acquired 
character, even in the case where no corresponding 
modification appears in the soma, since the causative 
energy is acquired by the soma and is not derived from 
the existing germ-plasma. 

Romanes! says, in reviewing the opinions of Weis- 
mann: ‘‘(1) Germ-plasm ceases to be continuous in 
the sense of having borne a perpetual record of con- 
genital variations from the first origin of sexual propa- 
gation. (2) On the contrary, as all such variations have 
been originated by the direct action of external conditions 
[italics mine], the continuity of the germ-plasm in this 
sense has been interrupted at the commencement of 
every inherited change during the phylogeny of all 
plants and animals, unicellular as well as multicellular. 
(3) But germ-plasm remains continuous in the re- 
stricted though highly important sense of being the 
sole repository of hereditary characters of each succes- 
sive generation, so that acquired characters can never 
have been transmitted to progeny ‘representatively,’ 
even though they have frequently caused those ‘spe- 
cialized’ changes in the structure of germ-plasm, which 
as we have seen, must certainly have been of con- 
siderable importance in the history of organic evolu- 
tion.” 

Here the inheritance of characters acquired by the 
soma is admitted, and the process is after the method 
of diplogenesis. According to Romanes, Galton origin- 


1An Examination of Wetsmannisn, Chicago, 1893, p. 169. 


472, PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


ally propounded this doctrine. Galton’s language? is 
as follows: 

‘«Tt is said that the structure of an animal changes 
when he is placed under changed conditions; that his 
offspring inherit some of his change; and that they 
vary still further on their own account, in the same 
direction, and so on through successive generations 
until a notable change in the congenital characteristics 
of the race has been effected. Hence, it is concluded 
that a change in the personal structure has reacted on 
the sexual elements. For my part, I object to so gen- 
eral a conclusion, for the following reasons. It is 
universally admitted that the primary agents in the 
processes of growth, nutrition, and reproduction, are 
the same, and that a true theory of heredity must so 
regard them. In other words, they are all due to the 
development of some germinal matter, variously lo- 
cated. Consequently, when similar germinal matter 
is everywhere affected by the same conditions, we 
should expect that it would be everywhere affected in 
the same way. The particular kind of germ whence 
the hair sprang, that was induced to throw out a new 
variety in the cells nearest to the surface of the body 
under certain changed conditions of climate and food, 
might be expected to throw out a similar variety in the 
sexual elements at the same time. The changes in 
the germs would everywhere be collateral, although 
the movements where any of the changed germs hap- 
pen to receive their development might be different.” 

This is the first statement of the doctrine of diplo- 
genesis with which I have met, and it appears to fur- 
nish the most rational basis for the investigation into 
the dynamics of the process. 


1 Contemporary Review, 1875, pp. 343-344; Proc. Royal Society, 1872, No. 136. 


CHAPTER IX.—THE ENERGY OF 
EVOLUTION. 


F we view the phenomena of organic life from the 
standpoint of the physicist, the first question that 
naturally arises in the mind is as to the kind of energy 
of which it is an exhibition. Ordinary observation 
shows that organic bodies perform molar movements, 
and that many of them give out heat. A smaller num- 
ber exhibit emanations of light and electricity. Very 
little consideration is sufficient to show that they in- 
clude among their functions chemical reactions, a con- 
viction which is abundantly sustained by researches 
into the physiology of both animals and plants. The 
phenomena of growth are also evidently exhibitions of 
energy. The term energy is used to express the mo- 
tion of matter, and the building of an embryo to ma- 
turity is evidently accomplished by the movement of 
matter in certain definite directions. The energy which 
accomplishes this feat is, however, none of those which 
characterize inorganic matter, some of which have just 
been mentioned, but, judging from its phenomena, is 
of a widely different character. If we further take a 
broad view of the general process of progressive evo- 
lution, which is accomplished by successive modifica- 
tions of this growth-energy, we see further reason for 


474. PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


distinguishing it widely from the inorganic energies. 

In considering the dynamics of organic evolution, 
it will be convenient to commence by considering the 
claims of natural selection to include the energy which 
underlies the process. That natural selection cannot 
be the cause of the origin of new characters, or varia- 
tion, was asserted by Darwin ;! and this opinion is 
supported by the following weighty considerations : 

1. A selection cannot be the cause of those alterna- 
tives from which it selects. The alternatives must be 
presented before the selection can commence. 

2. Since the number of variations possible to or- 
ganisms is very great, the probability of the admirably 
adaptive structures which characterize the latter hav- 
ing arisen by chance, is extremely small. 

3. In order that a variation of structure shall sur- 
vive, it is necessary that it shall appear simultaneously 
in two individuals of opposite sex. But if the chance 
of its appearing in one individual is very small, the 
chance of its appearing in two individuals is very much 
smaller. But even this concurrence of chances would 
not be sufficient to secure its survival, since it would 
be immediately bred out by the immensely preponder- 
ant number of individuals which should not possess 
the variation. 

4. Finally, the characters which define the organic 
types, so far as they are disclosed by paleontology, 
have commenced as minute buds or rudiments, of no 
value whatever in the struggle for existence. Natural 
selection can only effect the survival of characters when 
they have attained some functional value. 

In order to secure the survival of a new character, 
that is, of a new type of organism, it is necessary that 

1 Origin of Species, Ed. 1872, p. 65. 


THE ENERGY OF EVOLUTION. 475 


« 
the variation should appear in a large number of indi- 
viduals coincidentally and successively. It is exceed- 
ingly probable that that is what has occurred in past 
geologic ages. We are thus led to look for a cause 
which affects equally many individuals at the same 
time, and continuously. Such causes are found in the 
changing physical conditions that have succeeded each 
other in the past history of our planet, and the changes 
of organic function necessarily produced thereby. 


1. ANAGENESIS. 


It is customary to distinguish. broadly between in- 
organic and organic energies, as those which are dis- 
played by non-living and living bodies. This classifi- 
cation is inexact, since, as already remarked, nearly 
all of the inorganic energies are exhibited by living 
beings. A division which appears to be, with our 
present knowledge, much more fundamental, is into 
the energies which tend away from, and those which 
tend toward, the phenomena of life. In other words, 
those which are not necessarily phenomena of life, and 
those which are necessarily such. And the phenom- 
ena of life here referred to are the phenomena of growth 
and evolution, as distinguished from all others. I have 
termed! these classes the Anagenetic, which are ex- 
clusively vital, and the Catagenetic, which are phys- 
ical and chemical. The anagenetic class tends to up- 
ward progress in the organic sense; that is, toward 
the increasing control of its environment by the organ- 
ism, and toward the progressive development of con- 
sciousness and mind. ‘The catagenetic energies tend 
to the creation of a stable equilibrium of matter, in 


1 The Monist, Chicago, 1893, p. 630. 


476 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


which molar motion is not produced from within, and 
sensation is impossible. In popular language the one 
class of energies tends to life; the other to death. 
Herbert Spencer has defined evolution as a process 
of ‘‘integration of matter and dissipation of motion ”’;1 
‘the absorption of motion and the diffusion of matter” 
he terms dissolution. If by evolution Mr. Spencer 
referred only to that of inorganic bodies and masses, 
his definition must be accepted; but the evolution of 
organic bodies, since it has proceeded in a direction 
the opposite of the inorganic, cannot be so character- 
ized. Organic evolution has passed beyond the do- 
main of the inorganic, and the terms applicable to the 
latter process cannot be correctly applied to the former. 
In organic anagenesis there is absorption of energy; 
dissipation of energy is only known in the functioning 
of organic structures, which is catagenetic; not in 
their progressive evolution, which is anagenetic. 
Huxley, in a lecture delivered in 1854,? remarks: 
“¢Tendency to equilibrium of force and permanency of 
form then are the characters of that portion of the 
universe which does not live, the domain of the chem- 
ist and the physicist. Tendency to disturb existing 
equilibriums, to take on forms which succeed one 
another in definite cycles, is the character of the living 
world.” In the letter to Professor Tyndall, prefatory 
to the volume Lay Sermons and Addresses, in which this 
essay appeared, Huxley says: ‘‘The oldest essay of 
the whole, that on ‘The Educational Value of the 
Natural History Sciences,’ contains a view of the dif- 
ferences between living and not-living bodies, which I 
have long since outgrown.” Whatever might have 


1 First Principles, ed. 11., 1873, p. $42. 
2Lay Sermons and Addresses, 1880, p. 75. 


THE ENERGY OF EVOLUTION. 477 


been the cause of this change of opinion in Huxley’s 
mind, the cause which has produced a similar change 
in the minds of many men, has been the discovery of 
means of producing in the laboratory numerous organic 
compounds, which, it had been previously supposed, 
could not be produced excepting through the action of 
living things, vegetable and animal. But it has been 
shown that all of these substances are the result of the 
running down of protoplasm, and are, hence, catage- 
netic, and not anagenetic. 

That the catagenetic energies, whether physical or 
chemical, tend away from life is clear enough. Thus 
molar motion, unless continuously supplied, or directed 
by a living source, speedily ceases, being converted by 
friction into heat, which is dissipated. The same 
is true of molecular movements, under the same con- 
ditions. Chemical reactions, which are fundamental 
in world-building, result in the production of solids 
and the radiation of heat. This is the general result, 
although in the process, as it occurs in nature, irregu- 
larities occur, owing to local and temporary elevation 
of temperature. This arises from the decomposition 
of organic substances, which liberates heat; the oxy- 
dization of carbon, which owes its position as a ter- 
restrial element to vegetable and animal organisms ; 
and the access of heat from the interior of the earth, 
or from the sun’s rays. Finally cosmic creation in- 
volves the perpetual radiation of heat into space, and 
the gradual reduction of all forms of matter to the 
solid state. 

The endothermic chemical reaction, where inor- 
ganic matter undergoes a change of molecular aggre- 
gation the reverse of that just mentioned, with the ab- 
sorption of heat, as in the case of several nitrogen 


478 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


compounds, is rare in nature, where free from organic 
complications, and is necessarily soon reversed by 
further reactions. 

In the anagenetic energies, on the other hand, we 
have a process of building machines, which not only 
resist the action of catagenesis, but which press the 
catagenetic energies into their service. In the assimi- 
lation of inorganic substances they elevate them into 
higher, that is more complex compounds, and raise 
the types of energy to their own level. In the devel- 
opment of molar movements they enable their organ- 
isms to escape many of the destructive effects of cat- 
agenetic energy, by enabling them to change their 
environment; and this is especially true in so far as sen- 
sation or consciousness is present to them. The ana- 
genetic energy transforms the face of nature by its 
power of assimilating and recompounding inorganic 
matter, and by its capacity for multiplying its individ- 
uals. In spite of the mechanical destructibility of its 
physical basis (protoplasm), and the ease with which 
its mechanisms are destroyed, it successfully resists, 
controls, and remodels the catagenetic energies for its 
purposes. 

The anagenetic power of assimilation of the inor- 
ganic substances is chiefly seen in the vegetable king- 
dom. Atmospheric air, water, and inorganic salts 
furnish it with the materials of its physical basis. Then 
from its own protoplasm it elaborates by a catagenetic 
retrograde metamorphosis, the non-nitrogenous sub- 
stances, as wood (cellulose), waxes, and oils, and the 
nitrogenous alkaloids, and it may take up inorganic 
substances and deposit them without alteration in its 
cells. Many of the compounds elaborated by plants 
and animals have been manufactured of latter time by 


THE ENERGY OF EVOLUTION. 479 


chemists. The discovery that the living organism is 
not necessary for the production of these substances 
has led to the hasty conclusion that the supposed dis- 
tinction between ‘‘organic”’ and ‘‘inorganic” energy 
does not exist. But the elaboration of these substances 
is not accomplished by anagenetic or ‘‘vital” energy, 
but by a process of running down of the higher com- 
pound protoplasm, which is catagenesis. No truly 
anagenetic process has yet been imitated by man. 

All forms of functioning of organs, except assimi- 
lation, reproduction, and growth, are catagenetic. That 
is, functioning consists in the retrograde metamorpho- 
sis of a nitrogenous organic substance or proteid with 
the setting free of energy. The proteid is decomposed 
in the functioning tissue into carbon dioxide, water, 
urea, etc., and energy appears in the muscle as con- 
traction, in the glands as secretion, and in all parts of 
the body as heat. The general result of physiologic 
research is, that the decomposition of the blood is the 
source of energy, while the tissue of each organ deter- 
mines the character of that energy. That the tissue 
itself suffers from wear, and requires repair, is also 
true, but to a less extent than was once supposed. 

In the anagenetic process of the growth of the em- 
bryo the case is different. Here the processes of func- 
tioning of organs are in complete abeyance, the plasma 
of the odsperm is not sensibly broken down in chemical 
decomposition, but it isin great part elaborated into 
tissues and organs. All the mechanisms necessary to 
the mature life of the individual are constructed by the 
activity of the special form of energy known as growth- 
energy or Bathmism. It is the modifications of this 
energy which constitute evolution, and it is these to 
which we will hereafter direct our attention. Its sim- 


480 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


plest exhibition is the subdivision of a unicellular pro- 
toplasmic body into two or more individuals or struc- 
tural units of a multicellular organism. Further divi- 
sion of the latter does not abolish the individual, but 
extends it, and we now observe the elaboration of dif- 
ferent structural types to become the conspicuous func- 
tion of this form of energy. In other words, a once 
simple energy becomes specialized into specific ener- 
gies, each of which, once established, pursues its mode 
of motion in opposition to all other modes not more 
potent than itself. Besides the evident truth of the 
proposition that a mode of building is a mode of mo- 
tion, we have another very good reason for believing 
‘in the existence of a class of bathmic or growth-ener- 
gies. This is found in the phenomena of heredity. 
The most rational conception of this inheritance of 
structural characters is the transmission of a mode of 
motion from the soma to the germ-cells. This is a far 
more conceivable method than that of the transmis- 
sion of particles of matter, other than the ordinary ma- 
terial of nutrition. The bathmic theory of heredity 
bears about the same relation to a theory of transmis- 
sion of the pangenes of Darwin, or the ids of Weis- 
mann, as the undulatory theory of light and other 
forms of radiant energy does to the molecular theory 
of Newton. I have therefore assumed as a working 
hypothesis the existence of the bathmic energy, and 
have inquired how far the facts in our possession sus- 
tain it. In doing so it has been necessary to elaborate 
the theory so as to render clearer its application to spe- 
cific cases. The fact to be accounted for is its spe- 
cialization into so many diverse specific forms. 
A further indication of the existence of the bathmic 
energy is the quantitative limitation to which growth 


THE ENERGY OF EVOLUTION. 481 


is obedient. Thus the successive stages of embryonic 
growth are limited in number in each species. The 
dimensions of most species are limited within a def- 
inite range. The duration of life, or of the functioning 
organic machine, has a definite limit in time. All this 
means that a certain limited quantity of energy is at 
the disposal of each individual organism. 

In the preceding pages I have endeavored to show 
what causes have been and are efficient in the produc- 
tion of different types of organic life, through the 
modifications of the bathmic energy. We will now 
briefly consider the question of the origin of the living 
substance, protoplasm or sarcode, which exhibits bath- 
mism. 

On this subject Professor Manly Miles remarks :} 
‘«Qmitting subordinate details, which represent the 
separate links in the chain of events, the processes of 
nutrition may be summarized in general terms as fol- 
lows: In plants the chemical elements and binary com- 
pound on which they feed, are built up by successive 
steps of increasing complexity and instability into pro- 
toplasm, with a storing of the energy made use of in 
the constructive process, which is derived from the 
heat and light of thesun. The constructive processes 
are expressed by the term anabolism, and the products 
of the different upward steps are called anastatic. Pro- 
toplasm, the most complex and unstable of organic 
substances, is the summit of the ascending steps of 
anabolism ; and katabolism, which represents the suc- 
ceeding downward steps of metabolism, then follows, 
and its products or katastates are starch, cellulose, 
proteids, etc., or what we recognize as the proximate 


1Proceeds. Amer Assoc, Adv, Scz., 1892, p. 203. 


482 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


constituents and tissues of plants.” I interject here 
the remark, that from a chemical point of view, pro- 
toplasm is, under certain conditions, not unstable. 

If the tendency of the catagenetic energies is away 
from vital phenomena, it is impossible that they, or 
any of them, should be the cause of the origin of liv- 
ing matter. This logical inference is confirmed by the 
failure of all attempts to demonstrate spontaneous gen- 
eration of living organisms from inorganic matter. 
Further, the principle of continuity leads us to infer 
that the energy which produced organic matter must 
be identical with or allied to that which is the efficient 
agent in progressive evolution of organisms, and is, 
therefore, anagenetic. Such a conclusion may seem 
to lead to a dualism which is itself opposed to the 
principle of continuity or uniformity, and which is op- 
posed to experience of the phenomena of energy in 
general. How is uniformity to be harmonized with 
the hypothesis of two types of energy acting in differ- 
ent directions, apparently in opposition to each other? 
Since facts and logic do not support the derivation of 
the anagenetic from the inorganic energies, can the re- 
verse process, the derivation of the catagenetic from 
the anagenetic be and have been the order of nature? 
In support of this hypothesis, we have the universal 
prevalence of the retrograde metamorphosis of energy 
in both the inorganic and organic kingdoms. Phe- 
nomena of structural degeneracy are well known in 
the organic world, and purely chemical phenomena in 
both organic and inorganic processes are all degenerate. 
It appears, then, much more probable that catagenesis 
succeeds anagenesis as a consequence, and does not 
precede it as a cause. In other words, it is more 


THE ENERGY OF EVOLUTION. 483 


probable that death is a consequence of life, rather than 
that the living is a product of the non-living. I have 
therefore given to that energy which is displayed by 
the plant in the elaboration of living from non-living 
matter the name of antichemism.! Thus, while the 
heat of the sun is necessary to the building of proto- 
plasm, within a certain range of temperature this form 
of energy has its opportunity. 

The actual demonstration of this hypothesis can 
only come from researches into the thermochemistry 
of proteids and protoplasm. As these substances have 
not been made in the laboratory, these researches are 
not yet possible. We may, however, consider the 
problem as follows. In the process of making pro- 
toplasm, three gases, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen 
are converted into a semisolid. In this case heat 
should be dissipated, to an amount reduced by the 
molecular dissolution of carbon. This is however 
not the case, for heat is absorbed with an integration 
of atomic bonds. In other words, it would seem that 
the manufacture of protoplasm by plants is an endo- 
thermic process. This view is strengthened by the dis- 
covery by Berthollet? that the production of numerous 
solid organic substances, in which organic bases are 
used, isalso endothermic. These facts confirm the in- 
ference above recited, that the phenomena of organic 
growth involve the absorption of energy and not its 
dissipation. 

Referring to the composition of protoplasm CO 
N, Ihave called attention to the fact that each of its 
elements represents one of the great divisions defined 


American Naturalist, 1884, p. 979; Origin of the Fittest, 1887, p, 431. 
2Annales de Chimie et de Physique, V1, 1895, Pp. 232+ 


’ 


484 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


by their valency, into which the ultimate substances 
of nature naturally fall. This combination I have sug- 
gested might account for the chemical inertness of 
protoplasm, through the mutual inhibition which each 
of these elements might be supposed to exercise over 
the other, owing to the diversity of their modes of 
chemical action. 

In order to present more clearly the views enun- 
ciated in the preceding pages, I give a synoptic table 
of energies. 


: Antichemism 
I. Anagenetic Organic Bathmism 
Exclusively Neurism 
organic Myism 


II. Catagenetic Rechant Enetey 


Inorganic and Chemism 
Cohesion 
organic Gravitation 


2. BATHMOGENESIS. 


The innumerable structures which are due to the 
activity of bathmisms may be supposed to result from 
the composition of the inherited form with energies 
which are derived from sources external to the germ- 
plasma, whether within the soma or external to it. 
These interferences produce new and specific types of 
energy. The inherited bathmism I have termed ‘‘sim- 
ple growth force,” and the modified forms I have termed 
‘¢grade growth force.”! It appears that these types of 
energy should be distinguished by special names. 
Hence I have proposed to restrict the term bathmism 


Proceedings American Philosophical Society, 1871, p. 253. 


THE ENERGY OF EVOLUTION. 485 


to the modified or ‘‘grade” growth force, and to term 
the inherited or ‘‘simple” type of growth force, em- 
phytism.! Asa matter of fact, pure emphytism can 
only be observed in the embryos of sexless or parthe- 
nogenetic origin, and in the repair of tissues. 

Ryder has called the exhibition of growth-energy 
-ergogenesis, and he calls attention to the fact that it 
appears under two aspects. In the first, ergogenesis 
is due to mechanical causes resident in the organism 
exclusively, and consists of the physical tensions in- 
herent in protoplasm under all the conditions of 
growth. With these the growth-energies have to 
reckon, as they are the conditions which underlie them. 
They are not, however, strictly speaking, growth- 
energies, but would be exhibited by any similar col- 
loid under similar conditions. To the movements due 
to physical causes under these circumstances, Ryder 
gives the name of Statogenesis.2 The second aspect 
of the energies necessary to growth is present under 
the two forms already referred to, as emphytism and 
bathmism. The latter class, or interference energies, 
are naturally differentiated into those which are due 
to physical (or chemical) external agencies (molecular 
movements), and those that are due to molar move- 
ments as expressed in tissues, as impact, strain, etc. 
To the former I have given the name of physiobath- 
mism, to the latter, kinetobathmism.? 

The relations of these forms of energy may be rep- 
resented in tabular form as follows: 


1] have supposed in a late paper (American Naturalist, 1894, p. 212) that 
this is the statogenic energy of Ryder. This mistake has been corrected. 


2 Proceedings American Philosophical Soctety, 1893, P- 194. 


8American Naturalist, 1894, p. 214. The two types of growth are then 
physiogenesis and kinetogenesis. (Origin of the Fittest, 1887, p. 423.) 


486 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Ergogenesis 
Catagenetic  Statogenesis 


Inherited Lmphytogenesis 
Anagenetic | With inter- Molecular 
ference Bathmogenesis Phystogenesis 


Molar <Kinetogenesis 


Emphytogenesis I shall hereafter endeavor to show 
is an automatic (catagenetic) product of bathmogen- 
esis, and a stationary factor in evolution. 

The above table is designed to be a classification 
and formulation of the innumerable well-known facts 
of organic growth and evolution. It does not pre- 
tend to be an explanation of the processes involved, 
but it is the first step to be taken in attempting the 
explanation, i. e. a discrimination and classification of 
its factors. 

Ryder thus expressed the relation between stato- 
genesis and kinetogenesis.! 

‘So universal is this interference of the statical 
conditions of the plasma of segmenting ova with the 
ontogenetic processes, that not a single metazoan or- 
ganism can be named, the development of which is not 
thus marred in some way or other. It is often a long 
time relatively after development has begun that there 
is any obvious delineation of the embryo. In fact, 
this cannot take place until the statical energies of 
surface-tension which have kept the egg globular are 
overridden. Inso far as the ontogeny of any organ- 
ism is marred by statical conditions of energy-display, 
its embryonic form is also modified. In so far as such 
statical interference affects the figure of the organism 
they are morphogenetic or form-determining. In so 
far the figure of a developing being is disturbed or 


1Proceeds, Amer, Philos. Society, 1893, pp. 197-201. j 


¥ 


THE ENERGY OF EVOLUTION. 487 


modified by statical agencies its figure may be said to 
be subject to statogenetic influences. No existing 
larval form has escaped the influence upon its own 
shape of a constantly active statical equilibrium of its 
own substance. There is, therefore, a constant strug- 
gle going on during development between the phylo- 
genetic and ontogenetic forces, determining the se- 
quence and relations of the successive cleavages of the 
egg and the statical equilibria that obtain amongst its 
several parts. Statogenetic processes are, therefore, as 
constant and universal as the phylogenetic and onto- 
genetic. One may even go so far as to say that possi- 
bly the relations thus tending to be established by 
statical conditions may tend to become transmissible 
as hereditary tendencies. Such indeed is the view up- 
held by Prof. E. B. Wilson in his remarkable paper on 
‘The Cell-Lineage of Nereis.’ I have myself seen no 
less than three consecutive recurrences of the same 
statical conditions in a fish egg, none of which can, 
for this reason, be definitely proved to be purely onto- 
genetic. 

‘¢While such phenomena as those of the genesis 
of the heterocercal or upwardly deflected condition of 
the axis in the tails of fishes, or the downwardly de- 
flected condition of the axis in Ichthyosauri are almost 
purely kinetogenetic, the multiplicity of factors con- 
cerned, statogenetic as well as ontogenetic and phylo- 
genetic, must always be considered and each given its 
due weight and importance in achieving the morpho- 
genetic result. That there is an absolute conflict be- 
tween statogeny and kinetogeny on the one hand, and 
of phylogeny and ontogeny on the other, in the case 
of the development of the ova of multicellular forms 
admits of no doubt. All metazoa pass through larval 


488 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


stages in which the statical conditions of equilibrium 
of the plasma of the egg is gradually, in a great meas- 
ure, overriden by the hereditary energies represented 
by phylogeny and ontogeny. That there still remain 
traces of the effects of kinetogeny and statogeny in the 
adult organism cannot be denied in view of the facts 
to be derived from the shapes of tissue elements, and 
even of organs, as the foregoing paragraphs show.” 

The first appearance of bathmogenetic action is the 
first modification of the statogenetic and emphytogen- 
etic energies from whatever source. Changes may be 
effected in the weight, color, and in functional capacity 
by temperature, humidity, food, etc., thus exhibiting 
physiogenesis. Or changes in the size and forms of 
parts of the body may be produced by movements of 
the organism, or of its environment, so displaying ki- 
netogenesis. So long as these modifications of struc- 
ture should be confined to the individuals thus modi- 
fied, there would be no evolution. A second genera- 
tion, if not subjected to the same stimuli, would not 
possess the modifications ; and their possession of them 
would depend entirely on the amount of stimulus. In 
other words, there would be no accumulation of modi- 
fication. It has, however, been generally believed that 
these modifications are inherited, and I think it has 
been shown that this belief rests on asolid basis. Mean- 
while I have called the bathmogenesis which does not 
extend beyond the generation in which it appears, 
autobathmogeny. 

The quantitative relation which necessarily exists 
between bathmism and its sources may be expressed 
as follows, with due recognition of the fact that such 
expression does not rest upon any experimental tests. 
Emphytogenesis is work done in the construction of 


THE ENERGY OF EVOLUTION. 489 


tissues like those of the parent and without interfer- 
ence. Here we have the molecular energy of the par- 
ent converted into the molar movements observed to 
be concomitants of segmentation ; to be represented 
in the completed tissue by the mutual tensions by vir- 
tue of which each structural element maintains its in- 
tegrity. It is evidently a process of metamorphosis of 
energy in which there is less waste than in any other 
known to us. Embryonic growth is.accompanied by 
a very slight dissipation of heat, since a slight rise 
of temperature is noticeable in the eggs of cold-blooded 
animals and in flowers, when reproduction is active. 
The products of breaking down are equally rare in 
embryonic growth, and both this and the dissipation 
of heat are perhaps largely due to the changes wrought 
in non-cleavable nutritive substances with which the 
yolks are sometimes charged. It is probably to ac- 
complish this process that the oxygen necessary for the 
embryonic growth is used. How much loss is due to 
cell-division itself is not known, but it must be very 
little if any. We have probably here a nearly perfect 
conversion of energy. Theoretically we have ana- 
genesis wherever the up-building exceeds the down- 
breaking. 

The attempt to realize in the imagination the 
modus operandi of bathmic energy in embryo-building 
takes the following form. It is to be supposed that 
movement which has been most frequently repeated, 
and for the longest period, is prepotent, and takes 
precedence of all others. This is clearly simple cell- 
division, which follows the nutrition supplied by the 
spermatozoon, and which represents the first act of 
animal life. Hence, segmentation of the odsperm is 
the first movement of bathmism. Each subsequent 


490 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


movement appears in the order of potency, which is, 
other things being equal, a time order, or the order of 
record. The cause of the localization of tissues and 
structures is much more difficult to understand than 
the cause of the order of their appearance. The more 
energetic part of the process naturally requires the 
greater space for its products. The ectoderm, which 
becomes the seat of the nervous axis and its muscular 
adjuncts, occupies the superficial portions of the yolk. 
Hence, we may regard this expression of the struc- 
tural record of these functions as more energetic than 
that of the record-structure of the nutritive functions, 
which displays itself below the ectoderm. In mero- 
blastic and amphiblastic embryos, the segmentation 
which develops the nutritive tissues is evidently more 
sluggish, for the cells are larger and fewer in number 
than those of the ectoderm. 

In evolution external stimuli modify the course of 
emphytogeny above described, and by producing new 
structural records, cause a new form of energy, due to 
composition of the new with the old, and the process 
of growth then becomes bathmogeny. The external 
stimuli are molecular or molar, determining physio- 
bathmism or kinetobathmism. 

The effect of motion or use on the soma may be 
conveniently termed autokinetogenesis. Moderate use 
of a muscle is known to increase its size. Irritation 
of the periosteum is known to cause deposit of bone. 
Friction and pressure of the epithelium increases its 
quantity or changes its form. Increased activity of 
the functions of nervous tissues increases their relative 
proportions, as in the enlargement of nerves which re- 
place others which are interrupted by mutilations, etc. 


THE ENERGY OF EVOLUTION. 491 


On the other hand, it is equally well known that disuse 
produces diminution of muscular tissues, and through 
it, a reduction in the quantity of the harder tissue 
(bone, chitin, etc.) to which it is attached (as muscu- 
lar insertions, etc.) It was the observation of such 
well-known phenomena as these that led Lamarck to 
advance his doctrine of evolution under use and dis- 
use, and which has led many others to give their ad- 
herence to such a view. 

Thus much for cell-growth. Another class of mod- 
ifications of a similar kind may be found in the parts 
of an organism which consist of a complex of cells, or 
tissues. Thus the lumen of a small artery is enlarged 
under the influence of pressure when it is compelled 
to assume the function of a larger vessel through the 
interruption of the latter. A part of an internal or 
external skeleton which is fractured will form an arti- 
ficial joint at the point of fracture, if the adjacent sur- 
faces are kept in motion. Marey (Animal Mechanism, 
pp. 88-89) says, ‘‘After dislocations the old articular 
cavities will be filled up and disappear, while at the 
new point where the head of the bone is actually placed, 
a fresh articulation is formed, to which nothing will be 
wanting in the course of a few months, neither articu- 
lar cartilages, synovial fluid, nor the ligaments to re- 
tain the bone in place.” I have given some illustra- 
tions of this fact, which have come under my observa- 
tion, and which have an important bearing on the 
origin of the articulations of the vertebrate skeleton as 
I have traced them throughout geological time. f 
have, as I think, conclusively shown that these varied 
structures have been produced by impacts and strains, 


1Page 275 and Proceeds. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1892, p. 285. 


492 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


which are concomitants of the movements of the ani- 
mals, acting through long periods of time.! 

The term mnemogenesis is employed by Professor 
Hyatt? to characterize the manner in which kinetogen- 
esis is supposed to produce results in inheritance. I 
have suggested that the phenomena of recapitulation, 
characteristic of ontogeny (American Naturalist, Dec., 
188g), are due to the presence of a record in the germ 
cells, having a molecular basis similar to that of mem- 
ory. This view is adopted by Professor Hyatt. I have 
already referred to it in the preceding pages. 

A general statement of this doctrine was made by 
Mr. Sedgwick in The British and Foreign Medico-Chir- 
urgical Review for July 1863 in the following language: 
‘For atavism in disease appears to be but an instance 
of memory in reproduction, as imitation is expressed 
in direct descent; and in the same way that memory 
never, as it were, dies out, but in some state always 
exists, so the previous existence of some peculiarity in 
organization may likewise be regarded as never abso- 
lutely lost in succeeding generations, except by ex- 
tinction of race.” The next formulation of mnemo- 
genesis is by Hering in 1870.8 

It is concentrated in the following paragraph: 

‘‘The appearance of properties of the parental or- 
ganism in the full-grown filial organism can be noth- 
ing else but the reproduction of such processes of 
organized matter as the germ when still in the germi- 
nal vesicles had taken part in; the filial organism re- 
members, so to speak, those processes, and as soon as 


1‘ Mechanical Origin of the Hard Parts of the Mammalia," Amer, Journal 
of Morphology, 1889. Origin of the Fittest, 1887, pp. 305-373. 
2 Proceeds. Boston Soc. Nat. History, 1893, p. 73. 


3 Address before the Imperial Academy of Sciences of Vienna, May 30, 
1870, by Ewald Hering; English translation, Chicago, 1895. 


THE ENERGY OF EVOLUTION. 493 


an occasion of the same or similar irritations is offered, 
a reaction takes place as formerly in the parental or- 
ganism, of which it was then a part and whose desti- 
nies influenced it.” In explanation of this theory, 
Hering says: ‘‘We notice, further on, that the process 
of development of the germs which are destined to 
attain an independent existence, exercises a powerful 
reaction both on the conscious and unconscious life of 
the whole organism. And this isa hint that the organ of 
germination is in closer and more momentous relation 
to the other parts, especially to the nervous system, 
than any other organ. In an inverse ratio, the conscious 
destinies of the whole organism, it is most probable, 
find a stronger echo in the germinal vesicles than else- 
where.” 

If heredity is a form of memory, its laws may re- 
semble those of the psychic memory. In the latter, 
everything depends on what we call the strength of 
the impression. A single impression is often easily 
forgotten, and the certainty of recollection is largely 
dependent on the frequency of repetition of the stimu- 
lus. This is the essence of mental education, and it 
is probably the law of education of the germ-plasma 
as well. Thus may be understood how stimuli end- 
lessly repeated through long geologic ages, must pro- 
duce results far more profound and lasting than spo- 
radic impressions of modern and artificial origin. 

It must be here remarked for the benefit of the 
reader who may be unfamiliar with the explanation of 
the psychic memory, that it is the conscious part of 
memory which gives it its psychic character. This 
side is due to a fundamental molecular arrangement 
caused by stimuli, which may be retained for long 
periods without expression in consciousness. Thus 


494 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Bain regards memory as consisting of an unconscious 
and a conscious stage, and the latter he terms rem- 
iniscence. Other psychologists in common with man- 
kind generally, use the word memory for the conscious 
expression. J have termed the unconscious condition 
of the molecular basis of mind, cryptopnoy. 


CHAPTER X.—THE FUNCTION OF 
CONSCIOUSNESS. 


1, CONSCIOUSNESS AND AUTOMATISM. 


ONSCIOUSNESS is a general term, which em- 
braces all forms of self-knowledge. Sentiency is 
sometimes used with an identical meaning. Conscious- 
ness must be distinguished from self-consciousness, 
which implies introspection. Consciousness may or 
may not be characterised by attention. There are two 
widely different types of consciousness, viz., the pre- 
sentative and the representative. The former includes 
sense-perception only; the latter includes all the com- 
binations of sense-perception which characterize men- 
tal action, from simple memory to the most compre- 
hensive classification and conception. Most, if not 
all, animals appear to possess sense-perception, and 
all such possess the representative faculty of memory; 
but the higher grades of representative mental function 
are not so general among animals, and the extent of 
their occurrence is yet in dispute. 

In the preceding pages I have endeavored to show 
that the factors of evolution are bathmogenesis cor- 
rected by natural selection. Bathmogenesis embraces 
the two factors physiogenesis and kinetogenesis, or the 
products of molecular and molar motion, respectively. 


496 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


These two forms of motion have been coéxtensive 
with the existence of life, neither one preceding the 
other in time. Statogenesis is the expression of a form 
of energy which characterizes inorganic matter, while 
bathmogenesis is entirely peculiar to living things. 
Kinetogenesis is the fundamental principle in organic 
evolution, since it determines the amount and kind 
of physiogenesis, because it creates the environment 
which furnishes the conditions of physiogenesis. Pro- 
gressive organic evolution may, then, be described as 
due to kinetogenesis corrected by natural selection. 
At the basis, however, molar organic motion, i. e., con- 
traction of protoplasm, is probably molecular, but it is 
distinguished from other forms of molecular motion in 
the vast aggregate of molecules which move simultan- 
eously in one direction, as in an amceba or a muscle, 
thus effecting a change in the position of all or a part 
of an organism. Hence the distinction is a real one. 

Molar motion being, then, of such fundamental im- 
portance as a factor in evolution, the cause of such 
motion is also a capital question. Contraction of 
protoplasm is caused by stimuli, such as currents of 
electricity and chemical reagents; but such stimuli are 
not those which ordinarily produce the contractions to 
which the molar movements of living animals are due. 
In those animals which possess a nervous system it 
has been shown that contractions only follow stimuli 
which are conveyed to the contractile elements by 
nervous threads, and the.internal energy which repre- 
sents the external stimulus, is called nervous energy 
orneurism. In animals without a nervous system, and 
in plants, external stimuli must be justly supposed to 
be converted into the same form of energy, which in 
such organisms has a general circulation throughout 


THE FUNCTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 497 


the contractile protoplasm. The important point about 
these movements in most animals is, that their direc- 
tion directly subserves the attainment of some position 
which is favorable for the procurement of relief from 
some unpleasant sensation, or the acquisition of some 
agreeable one, or both. We have the best reasons for 
believing this to be true of the vast majority of animals, 
because their structure is fundamentally like our own, 
and the inference that the same is true of the lowest 
forms of life is justifiable until it is proven to be mis 
taken. 

Lamarck has attributed the movements of animals 
to the necessity of satisfying their instincts, without 
entering into the metaphysical questions which this 
involves. I have regarded the question as a meta- 
physical one by asserting that the necessary prelim- 
inary to movement is ‘‘effort,” referring to what are 
called ‘‘voluntary” as distinguished from automatic 
motions. 

Without special organs of movement, a great part of 
the phenomena of kinetogenesis would have no exis- 
tence, precisely as natural selection cannot act unless 
the materials for selection (i. e. variations) are already 
in existence. In explanation of the origin of organs 
of movement we have the general ability of the primi- 
tive animal, or protozoén, to project portions of its 
body-substance as pseudopodia, which, in more spe- 
cialized forms, become persistent and more or less 
rigid, as flagella, cilia, etc.; which are the first distinct 
organs which subserve the transportation of the body 
from place to place. The causes which lead to these 
changes are as yet obscure, but that the use of these 


1 Proceeds. Am. Philos. Soc., 1871, p. 18. Origin of the Fittest, 1887, p. 194. 
390 rd 


498 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


organs when once called into existence is due to stimuli 
similar to those which affect the motions of the limbs 
of the higher animals, is altogether probable. What- 
ever be its nature, the preliminary to any animal move- 
ment which is not automatic, is an effort. And as no 
adaptive movement is automatic the first time it is per- 
formed, we may regard effort as the immediate source 
of all movement. Now, effort is a conscious state, and 
is a sense of resistance to be overcome. When an act 
is performed without effort, resistance has been over- 
come, and the mechanism necessary for the performance 
of the act has been completed. The stage of automa- 
tism has been reached. At the inception of a new 
movement resistance is necessarily experienced. Itis 
generally believed that a mental state, as a sensation 
or a desire, which may or may not stimulate a rational 
process as an intervening element in the circuit, is 
concerned in overcoming this resistance.. 

A different view is held by certain physiologists and 
thetaphysicians, ase. g. Wundt and Héoffding. Hux- 
ley thus states his opinion in his Belfast address of 
1874,1 @ propos of Descartes’s doctrine that all animals 
below man are automata. ‘*The consciousness of 
brutes would appear to be related to the mechanism of 
their body simply as a collateral product of its work- 
ing, and to be as completely without any power of 
modifying that working as the steam-whistle which 
accompanies the work of a locomotive-engine is with- 
out influence on its machinery. Their volition, if they 
have any, ts an emotion indicative of physical changes, not 
a cause of such changes.” (Italics mine.) In other 
words, stimulus excites conscious states, but the state 
thus produced has no influence on the resulting act. 


MScientific Culture and Other Essays, p. 243. 


THE FUNCTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 499 


That sense-perceptions are stimuli to the immediate 
appearance of structural changes or movements is ad- 
mitted. This is shown by the production of color 
changes in animals through changes in the condition 
of the organs of sight. Pouchet showed that the extir- 
pation of both eyes of the turbot, and of a Gobius, 
paralyzed the chromatophorous cells, so that the usual 
color-adaptations to the color of the surface of the bot- 
tom on which they rested, could not be made. He also 
produced the same effect on one side of a trout by re- 
moving the eye of the opposite side. The chromato- 
phore were permanently expanded, and the colors dark. 

Some experiments which I tried with tree frogs of 
the species Hyla gratiosa, and Hyla carolinensis, are as 
follows: The color is usually green in both species, 
but it changes to dark brown where the frog rests ona 
brown surface, as of bark, etc. It appears that the 
maintenance of the brown color requires a more vigor- 
ous nervous stimulus than the green. ‘The frogs are 
green at death ; and limbs which I ligated remained 
green when the remainder of the surface became 
brown. Now in individuals with extirpated eyes, the 
color was always green, no matter what the surface on 
which they rested. The power of assuming the brown 
color was lost. 

In these experiments it is difficult to coanest the 
expansion of the chromatophorous cells as any effect 
of consciousness of color, by direct proof. If, how- 
ever, muscular cells can be contracted under the in- 
fluence of mental states, a similar mechanism may be 
supposed to exist in the case of chromatophore. The 
fact that the process may be now reflex does not ex- 
clude the other fact of the influence of consciousness 


500 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


at the inception, and its necessity for the continuance 
of the habit. 

If we examine muscular movements, the evidence 
of control by consciousness becomes more distinct. 
New conditions bring forth new acts in animals too 
frequently to permit us to believe otherwise. Thus 
Mr. Belt tells of a procession of ants which crossed a 
railroad in Panama. Many were killed on the rail, so 
the column excavated a passage beneath the rail, and 
thus escaped further injury. No one can reasonably 
deny the intervention of a conscious state of a high 
order, as directly controlling the muscular movements 
of those ants. According to Beauchamp, termites in 
the same region display similar intelligence. A num- 
ber of them were confined in a deep glass vessel with 
smooth sides which they could not scale. They there- 
upon deposited drops of their building secretion, which 
hardens on drying, on the glass, ascending backwards, 
and so made a stair out of their prison, by which they 
escaped. 

A Cebus capucinus in my possession imitated some 
carpenters who were working in the room with a draw- 
ing-knife. He used a triangular piece of tin, and, 
holding the corners, drew the edge towards him over 
the surface of a piece of squared wood on which he 
sat. He did this rapidly and repeatedly, with many 
grimaces. A Cebus afella in the Philadelphia Zodlogi- 
cal Garden lights matches whenever he can get them. 
He always selects the proper end, and holds it at a 
proper distance, so that the stick is not broken and his 
fingers are not burned. He strikes them on the rough 
outside of his drinking-kettle. My Cedus came direct 
from the forests of Venezuela, and he had not been 
educated among carpenters. The history of the apella 


THE FUNCTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 501 


I do not know, but he had not probably been brought 
up among matches, and his act was in any case not 
reflex. 

As an illustration of the simplest of movements, 
and their physical conditions, I cite those of the Myx- 
omycetes, from Stahl.! 

‘‘The movement of Myxomycetes is influenced by: 

‘‘1, Moisture (Hydrotropism): In their young 
stages they wander from the parts of the substratum 
(i. e. of the deposit on which they are creeping), which 
are gradually drying up, toward those which continue 
moist longer; ‘it is even possible, by bringing moist 
bodies into the proximity of any ramifications, to cause 
the production of pseudopodia, which elevate them- 
selves from the substratum, and soon come into con- 
tact with the moist object, so as to enable the whole 
mass of the plasmodium to migrate on to it.’ On the 
entrance of the plasmodia into the fructifying condi- 
tion, positive hydrotropism gives place to negative ; 
the myxomycete quits the moist substratum and creeps 
upwards on to the surface of dry objects. 

‘<2, Unequal distribution of warmth in the sub- 
stratum, and 

“¢3. Unequal supplies of oxygen also cause loco- 
motion in the myxomycete. 

««4, Chemical substances soluble in water have a 
similar action. Contact of the plasmodia on one side 
with solutions of common salt, saltpetre, or carbonate 
of potash, cause them to withdraw from the danger- 
ous spot, while infusion of tan, or a dilute solution 
of sugar, produces a flow of the protoplasm and ulti- 


1E, Stahl, ‘‘Zur Biologie der Myxomyceten,” Botan, Zeztung, 1884, No. 
zo-12. Abstract in Sitzungsbericht der Jenaischen Gesellschaft fiir Medizin 
und Naturwissenschaft, 1883, Sitzung vom 16. November. 


502 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


mately translocation of the whole plasmodial mass 
towards the source of nourishment. Some solutions 
have an attractive or repulsive effect, according to 
their degree af concentration. 

‘¢5. Finally, they withdraw from light (negative 
heliotropism). 

‘With regard to the sceaciaaod or definite direc- 
tion of movement produced entirely by stimuli, com- 
pare the following: 

‘«The knowledge of the remarkably delicate reac- 
tion of the plasmodia under external influences enables 
us to comprehend how these tender structures, desti- 
tute of every kind of external protection, are able to 
carry on their existence. The plasmodia which are 
not yet ripe for reproduction are kept in the moist sub- 
stratum by positive hydrotropism, which is assisted by 
negative heliotropism. 

‘¢But within the darkness and moisture of the sub- 
stratum the plasmodia by no means remain in one 
place, because the differences in the chemical compo- 
sition of the substratum cause continual migrations. 
The plasmodia have the faculty in a wonderful way of 
avoiding harmful substances, and, traversing their 
substratum in all directions, of taking up the materials 
they require. 

“¢ When the internal changes have proceeded so far 
that the plasmodia approach the fructifying condition, 
they are brought by the negative hydrotropism which 
now sets in, from the moist parts of the ground in the 
forest or wood to the surface, where they creep up 
various upright objects, often only forming rigid re- 
productive capsules at some height from the ground. 

«‘When in autumn the substratum becomes grad- 
ually colder a change which takes place from the sur- 


THE FUNCTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 503 


face downwards, the plasmodia migrate into deeper 
regions still having a higher temperature. When the 
cooling proceeds very gradually, which especially hap- 
pens in large tan-heaps, the plasmodia may, in their 
migration reach somewhat considerable depths, where 
they then change into sclerotia. To find the sclerotia 
of #thalium in winter it is, therefore, not seldom 
necessary to search through the mass of tan to a depth 
of several feet. When the temperature again begins 
to rise, the sclerotia again germinate, and movement 
in the opposite direction takes place from the deeper 
and cooler parts to the upper portions already warmed. 

“<In the locomotion of the Myxomycetes, then, we 
see extremely interesting cases of movements due to 
stimulation. Heliotropism, geotropism, hydrotropism, 
trophotropism, in general, are stimulus-movements, 
and ultimately all growth depends on stimulus-move- 
ment. It is the most primitive kind of protoplasmic 
movement. Stimuli in fixed directions and constantly 
repeated, produced, but only secondarily, fixed paths 
of conduction, and responses of a quite definite kind 
(reflexes). Thus arose nerves, and finally apparatus 
for stirring up stimuli, arose sensation and will—as 
acquired and inherited faculties.” 

In this lowest type of organic movement it is diffi- 
cult to discern any cause for it different from those 
which actuate higher organisms. What form of inor- 
ganic energy can be cited as sufficient to cause the 
organism to change its position with regard to stimuli 
to self-preservation, and without regard to gravita- 
tion, or any known form of attraction or repulsion? 
In the Fuligo (tan flowers) a most pronounced ex- 
ample of designed movement has been observed. 
This form, in the amcebula stage, will, according 


504 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


to H. J. Carter, ‘‘confine itself to the water of the 
watch-glass in which it may be placed, when away. 
from the sawdust and chips of wood among which it 
has been living ; but if the watch-glass be placed upon 
the sawdust it will very soon make its way over the 
side of the watch-glass and get to it.” This act probably 
depends on a sense-perception of the presence and posi- 
tion of the tan-bark, and of a feeling of desire to reach 
it. This may have been due to a sense of discomfort. 
due to the surrounding water, or to a recollection of 
superior comfort associated with the tan-bark. 
Ordinary observation of most animals leads to the 
belief that their movements are provoked by sensa- 
tions, as of hunger, thirst, temperature, etc.; also of 
sight, hearing, smell, etc., when they possess those 
senses. There are physiologists who deny that such 
is the case, but I must insist on the importance of a 
psychological rather than a physiological study of ani- 
mals as a most important source of information in 
this direction. The students of dead or mutilated 
animals miss important evidence as to the phenomena, 
of consciousness. The attempt has been made to 
identify hunger, for instance, with chemical energy, a 
proposition which is simply irrational. It may be none 
the less true, however, that hunger is a necessary con- 
comitant of a molecular condition. Observation on 
living animals shows in the most conclusive manner 
that by far the greater number of species are capable 
of the performance of acts in response to new situations 
and circumstances for the performance of which no 
automatic mechanism exists. Memory is clearly pres- 
ent in them, and, as a consequence, judgments are 
formed which determine the succeeding acts. The 
process, be it ever so simple, is ‘‘representative,” and 


THE FUNCTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 505 


thus a mental act, at least one stage beyond sense- 
impression. The doctrine that conscious states have 
preceded organisms in time and evolution I have called 
archesthetism. It seems to have been first clearly for- 
mulated by Erasmus Darwin, who believed that growth 
has been stimulated by ‘‘irritations ” (of hunger, thirst, 
etc.) and by the pleasurable sensations attending those 
irritations, and by exertions in consequence of painful 
sensations, similar to those of hunger and suffocation,’ 
etc. 

The weakness of the doctrine of archzsthetism con- 
sists in our ignorance of the characters of the Proto- 
zoa, with respect to the presence or absence of con- 
sciousness or sensation. While many of the acts of 
these low organisms need not be explained by suppos- 
ing its presence, others seem to be impossible without 
it. We are, however, led to infer its presence rather 
on uniformitarian grounds, than by any certainty of 
explanation of the phenomena. We can trace sensa- 
tion so far down in the scale of animal life, that it 
seems unreasonable to deny its presence when the 
same phenomena are exhibited by the Protozoa. We 
are confirmed in our belief in the presence of sensation 
in these low forms, by the knowledge that reflex acts 
are the product of conscious acts, whereas we have no 
evidence that conscious acts are the product of the re- 
flex. 

Although it is frequently alleged or assumed that 
designed conscious acts are the product of reflexes, no 
one has yet shown how this is possible. On the other 
hand, the development of automatic acts out of con- 
scious ones is of ordinary occurrence, and is known 
under the name of education. 

1Zoonomia, KXXIX., 3; Osborn, From the Greeks to Darwin, p. 148, 


506 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


The relation of consciousness to the physical basis 
is as yet a profound mystery, but that they exercise 
over each other a definite mutual control is unques- 
tionable. The processes which produce thought, as 
conception, judgment, etc., are, however, not qualita- 
tively related to the amount of nutritious proteids 
consumed in the central nervous system, but only 
quantitatively; yet it is the outcome of these processes 
that directs animal movements, when they are not auto- 
matic. In other words, the forms of thought, which 
have no weight, direct the movements of muscles, 
which have weight. This is not in accord with the 
doctrine of the correlation of energy. But what has 
the formation of a concept, or the development of a 
judgment, to do, per se, with the correlation of energy? 
I may give this idea a more definite expression by the 
following diagram :1! 


I 2 
AFFIRMATIVE. NEGATIVE. AFFIRMATIVE. NEGATIVE, 
I 5 I 3 
6 2 


2 4 
3 5 
4 6 


Let each square represent the grammes of energy 
necessary for the maintenance in consciousness of six 
propositions. Judgment issues from the side of the 
predominating number of propositions. They arrange 
themselves in consciousness in accordance with their 
qualities, in two aggregations represented by columns 
in the squares. Now if they arrange themselves in 
four affirmative and two negative, as in square 1, the 


1This is in explanation of the same proposition as stated by me in the 
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 1889, p. 504. 


THE FUNCTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 507 


judgment is affirmative. If, on the other hand, they 
arrange themselves in two affirmative and four nega- 
tive, as in square 2, the judgment is negative. The 
energy expended in the two cases is the same. So also 
in forming different concepts from the same set of par- 
ticular sense-impressions or memories. Is there any dif- 
ference in the energy expended in forming from them 
the concept of bigness as compared with that of red- 
ness? While, therefore, every mental process is ex- 
pensive as a whole, the mental content is obedient to 
the forms of thought rather than the correlation of 
energy. This is what mind is. While it is doubtful 
whether any animal below man can form a concept 
(with a very few possible exceptions), the formation 
of simple judgments is general. Any decision based 
on experience is a judgment. 

In order to render this proposition clearer, I have 
formulated it in the following language, although it is 
possible that the definition of energy will not bear the 
strain of the statement. 

‘¢ The formal statement of this phenomenon may be 
found in the thesis, that exergy can be conscious. If true, 
this is an ultimate fact, neither more nor less diffi- 
cult to comprehend than the nature of energy or 
matter in their ultimate analyses. But how is sucha 
hypothesis to be reconciled with the facts of nature, 
where consciousness plays a part so infinitesimally 
small? The explanation lies close at hand, and has 
been already referred to. ergy become automatic is 
no longer conscious, or is about to become unconscious. 
That this is the case is matter of every-day observa- 
tion on ourselves and on other animals. What the 
molecular conditions of consciousness are, is one of 
the problems of the future, and for us a very interest- 


508 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


ing one. One thing is certain, the organization of the 
mechanism of habits is its enemy. J? zs clear that in 
animals, energy, on the loss of consciousness, undergoes a 
retrograde metamorphosis. 

‘«To regard consciousness as the primitive condi- 
tion of energy, contemplates an order of evolution in 
large degree the reverse of the one which is ordinarily 
entertained. ‘The usual view is, that life is a deriva- 
tive from inorganic energies as a result of high or com- 
plex molecular organization, and that consciousness 
(=sensibility) is the ultimate outcome of the nervous 
or equivalent energy possessed by living bodies. The 
failure of the attempts to demonstrate spontaneous 
generation will prove, if continued, fatal to this theory. 
With our present evidence it may be affirmed that not 
only ‘has life preceded organization,’ but that con- 
Sclousness was coincident with the dawn of life.” 

The facts cited, and the doctrines defended in the 
preceding pages lead to one inference as to the relation 
of consciousness to its physical basis. The condition 
of matter necessary to the maintenance of conscious- 
ness is, in the language of morphology, generalized; in 
the language of chemistry, zeutra/; in the language of 
physics, zon-eguilibrated. The materialist and the ani- 
mist can alike agree as to this generalization. The 
difference between the two positions is a difference of 
view as to the mutual relations of the two members of 
the partnership. Is the permanent absence of equi- 
librium of living protoplasm due to control by con- 
sciousness ? or is consciousness a product of an absence 
of equilibrium, which is due to chemical and physical 
action? The latter proposition is untenable, because 
the inevitable tendency of chemical and physical ener- 
gies is to an equilibrium. Is, therefore, the other al- 


THE FUNCTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 509 


ternative true? There seems to be no escape from it, 
and it accords also with our personal human experi- 
ence of the agency of conscious states in our various 
activities, physical and mental. 


2. THE EFFECTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 


From the facts cited it is evident that sensation 
(consciousness) has preceded in time and in history, 
the evolution of the greater part of plants and animals, 
both unicellular and multicellular. It appears also 
that if kinetogenesis be true, consciousness has been 
essential to a rising scale of organic evolution. 

Animals who do not perform simple acts of self- 
preservation must necessarily perish sooner or later. 
In fact it is impossible to understand how the lowest 
forms of life, utterly dependent as they are on physi- 
cal conditions of many kinds, should not have been 
all destroyed, were they not possessed of some degree 
of consciousness under stimuli at least. And the case 
is even plainer with the higher forms. We have only 
to picture to ourselves the condition of a vertebrate 
without general or special sensation, to perceive how 
essential consciousness is to its existence. If now, as 
maintained in Chapter IV., use has modified struc- 
ture, and so, in coéperation with the environment, has 
directed evolution, we can understand the origin and 
development of useful organs. And we can under- 
stand how by parasitism or other mode of gaining a 
livelihood without exertion, the adoption of new and 
skilful movements would become unnecessary, and 
consciousness itself would be seldom aroused. Con- 
tiued repose would be followed by subconsciousness, 
and later by unconsciousness. Such appears to be the 
history of degeneracy everywhere, and such is, per- 


510 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


haps, the history of the entire vegetable kingdom. 
From their ability to manufacture protoplasm from 
inorganic substances, plants do not need to move 
about in search of food, so that they require no con- 
sciousness of conditions to guide their movements. 
They become fixed, and their entire organization be- 
comes monopolized by the functions of nutrition and 
reproduction. Movements rarely occur, and when 
present are confined to those of one part of the struc- 
ture or another. They are mostly rhythmic or rotary, 
and very seldom exhibit the quality of impromptu de- 
sign. The satisfactory explanation of those that ex- 
hibit general design, as the adaptation for transporta- 
tion often seen in seeds, may be chance coincidence 
and natural selection. 

The ascending scale of development of intelligence 
observed among animals is strong evidence in support 
of the hypothesis here outlined. There can be no 
doubt that in the long run the most intelligent have 
survived. They have survived because they were 
capable of the most successful designed acts, thus 
directing their movements to the most useful ends. 
These movements ultimately modified their structure 
usefully, to the perfecting of mechanisms in every way 
important to their possessors. This much having been 
established as to the cause of anagenesis, let us look 
more closely into the history of catagenesis. 

Movements of organic beings on frequent repeti- 
tion become automatic, reflex, and finally, as it is 
termed, organic. This means the running down of 
energy through various grades, beginning with the 
highest or conscious stage, and ending with the purely 
reflex, which is as unconscious of changes in the en- 
vironment as is any one of the physical energies. The 


THE FUNCTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 511 


conscious stage is evidently the most susceptible to 
the stimuli of the environment, and the process of 
catagenesis is one of degeneracy to less and less sensi- 
tive and to more and more mechanical conditions. 
The resemblance of the lowest grade of organic activ- 
ities to physical mechanical energy is so great that it 
is almost universally supposed by evolutionists to be 
of purely mechanical origin, but I have endeavored to 
show that they are of totally different origin, and that 
the only explanation of their characteristics is the hy- 
pothesis of catagenesis. 

In accordance with this view, the automatic ‘‘in- 
voluntary’? movements of the heart, intestines, repro- 
ductive systems, etc., were organized in primitive and 
simple animals in successive states of consciousness, 
which stimulated ‘‘voluntary” movements, which ulti- 
mately became rhythmic; whose results varied with 
the machinery already existing and the material at 
hand for use.. It is not inconceivable that circulation 
may have been established by the suffering produced 
by an overloaded stomach demanding distribution of 
its contents. The structure of the Infusoria offers the 
structural conditions of such a process. A want of 
propulsion in a stomach or body-sack occupied with 
its own functions would lead to a painful clogging of 
the flow of its products, and the ‘‘ voluntary” contrac- 
tility of the body or tube-wall being thus stimulated, 
would at some point originate the pulsation necessary 
to relieve the tension. Thus might have originated 
the ‘‘contractile vesicle” or contractile tube of some 
protozoa ; its ultimate product being the mammalian 
heart. So with reproduction. Perhaps an excess of 
assimilation in well-fed individuals of the first animals 
led to the discovery that self-division constituted a re- 


512 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


lief from the oppression of too great bulk. With the 
increasing specialization of form, this process would 
become necessarily localized in the body, and growth 
would repeat such resulting structure in descent, as 
readily as any of the other structural peculiarities. No 
function of the higher animals bears the mark of con- 
scious origin more than this one, as consciousness is 
still one of the conditions of its performance. While 
less completely ‘‘ voluntary” than muscular action, it 
is more dependent on stimulus for its initial move- 
ments, and does not in these display the unconscious 
automatism characteristic of many other functions. 
There remain, however, some phenomena which do 
not yield so readily to this analysis. First, we have the 
conversion of inorganic substances into protoplasm by 
plants. It is also well known that living animal or- 
ganisms act as producers, by conversion, of various 
kinds of inorganic energy, as heat, light, sound, electri- 
city, motion, etc. It is the uses to which these forces are 
put by the animal organism, the evident design in the 
occasion of their production, that gives them the stamp 
of organic life. We recognize the specific utility of the 
secretions of the glands, the appropriate distribution of 
the products of digestion and adaptation of muscular 
motion to many uses. The increase of heat to protect 
against depression of temperature ; the light to direct 
the sexes to each other; the electricity as a defence 
against enemies—display unmistakably the same util- 
ity. We must not only believe that these functions 
of animals were originally used by them under stimu- 
lus, for their benefit, but, if life preceded organism, 
that the mechanism which does the work has devel- 
oped as the result of the animal’s exertions under stim- 
uli. This will especially apply to the mechanism for 


THE FUNCTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 513 


the production of motion and sound. The production 
of heat, light, chemism, and electricity doubtless re- 
sult from molecular aptitudes inherent in the constitu- 
tion of protoplasm. But the first and last production 
of even these phenomena is dependent on the motions 
of the animal in obtaining and assimilating nutrition. 
For without nutrition all energy would speedily cease. 
Now the motion required for the obtaining of nutrition 
has its origin in the sensation of hunger. So, even for 
the first steps necessary to the production of inorganic 
forces in animals, we are brought back to a primitive 
consciousness. This hypothesis I have termed Ar- 
chesthetism. 

‘‘It maintains that consciousness as well as life 
preceded organism, and has been the primum mobile in 
the creation of organic structure. This conclusion 
also flows from a due consideration of the nature of 
life. I think it possible to show that the true defini- 
tion of life is, exergy directed by sensibility, or by a mech- 
anism which has originated under the direction of senst- 
bility. Tf this be true, the two statements that life has 
preceded organism, and that consciousness has pre- 
ceded organism are coéqual expressions. 

‘Granting the existence of living protoplasm on 
the earth, there is little doubt that we have some 
of its earliest forms still with us. From these sim- 
plest of living beings both vegetable and animal king- 
doms have been derived. But how was the distinc- 
tion between the two lines of development, now so 
widely divergent, originally produced ? The process 
is not difficult to imagine. The original plastid dis- 
solved the salts of the earth and appropriated the gases 
of the atmosphere and built for itself more protoplasm. 
Its energy was sufficient to overcome the chemism 


514 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


that binds the molecules of nitrogen and hydrogen in 
ammonia, and of carbon and oxygen in carbonic diox- 
ide. It apparently communicated to these molecules 
its own method of being, and raised the type of energy 
from the polar non-vital to the adaptive vital by the 
process. Thus it transformed the dead inorganic world, 
perhaps by a process of invasion, as when a fire com- 
municates itself from burning to not burning combust- 
ible material. Thus it has been doing ever since, but 
it has redeposited some of its gathered stores in vari- 
ous non-vital forms. Some of these are in organic 
forms, as cellulose ; others are crystals imprisoned in 
its cells ; while others are amorphous, as waxes, resins, 
and oils. But consciousness apparently early aban- 
doned the vegetable line. Doubtless all the energies 
of vegetable protoplasm soon became automatic. The 
plants in general, in the persons of their protist ances- 
tors, soon left a free-swimming life and became sessile. 
Their lives thus became parasitic, more automatic, 
and in one sense degenerate. 

“« The animal line may have originated in this wise... 
Some individual protists, perhaps accidentally, de- 
voured some of their fellows. The easy nutrition which 
ensued was probably pleasurable, and once enjoyed 
was repeated, and soon became a habit. The excess 
of energy thus saved from the laborious process of 
making protoplasm was available as the vehicle of con- 
sciousness and motion. From that day to this, con- 
sciousness has abandoned few if any members of the 
animal kingdom. In many of them it has specialized 
into more or less mind. Organization to subserve its 
needs has achieved a multifarious development. There 
is abundant evidence to show that the permanent and 
the successful forms have ever been those in which 


THE FUNCTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 515 


motion and sensibility have been preserved, and most 
highly developed. 

We must remember, however, that in the matter 
of the evolution of plant-types we have an especial 
factor in the influence which insects have exerted on 
the conditions of almost all of their organs. Insects 
originated early in geological time, and have closely 
accompanied plants in their evolution. As the source 
of the food, and as the dwelling-places of great num- 
bers of insects, they have been subjected to a class of 
stimuli and strains similar to those which animals have 
experienced. It is believed that the forms of the or- 
gans of fructification and especially of the flowers, 
have been greatly modified by the influence of insects.? 
The general evolution of plants, however, presents us 
with a greater predominance of physiogenetic or simple 
dynamical conditions over the bathmic, than in the case 
of animals. Thus many peculiarities of the inflores- 
cence directly result from the shortening of the axial 
growth in complementary relation to the increase of 
peripheral growth. Such is evidently the origin of 
flowers themselves ; secondly of the umbel as com- 
pared with the spike or panicle and finally of the com- 
posite head as compared with the other modes of in- 
florescence. To the cohesion of the elements of a 
whorl, possible only in the case of an abbreviated axis, 
can we ascribe the formation of a seed vessel from dis- 
crete carpels, and a gamopetalous from a polypetalous 
corolla. Degeneracy or specialization is to be seen 
everywhere, as in the abortion of ovules, carpels, and 
perianth. 

«‘ Catagenesis of living organisms has been epito- 


lOrigin of the Fittest, p. 428, 432. 


2 Henslow. 


516 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


mized in the following language: ‘Evolution of living 
types is then a succession of elevation of platforms, 
on which succeeding ones have built. The history of 
one horizon of life is that its own completion but pre- 
pares the way for a higher one, furnishing the latter 
with conditions of a still further development. Thus 
the vegetable kingdom died, so to speak, that the ani- 
mal kingdom might live, having descended from an ani- 
mal stage to subserve the function of food for animals. 
The successive types of animals first stimulated the 
development of the most susceptible to the conflict, 
in the struggle for existence, and afterwards furnished 
them with food.’ In the occupation of the world’s 
fields, the easiest and nearest at hand have been first 
occupied, and successively those which were more dif- 
ficult. The digging animals are generally those which 
first abandoned the open field to more courageous or 
stronger rivals ; and they remain to this day generally 
of low type compared with others of their_classes (e. g. 
Monotremata, Glires, Insectivora). Alloccupations have 
been filled before that one which requires the greatest 
expenditure of energy, i. e. mental activity. But all 
other modes of life have fallen short of this one in giv- 
ing the supremacy over nature.” 

We now approach an explanation of the phenome- 
non of anagenesis. Why should evolution be pro- 
gressive in the face of universal catagenesis? No other 
ground seems discoverable but the presence of sensa- 
tion or consciousness, which is, metaphysically speak- 
ing, the protoplasm of mind. The two sensations of 
hunger and sex, have furnished the stimuli to internal 
and external activity, and memory, or experience with 
natural selection, have been the guides. Mind and 
body have thus developed contemporaneously and 


THE FUNCTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 517 


have reacted mutually. Without the coéperation of 
all these factors, anagenesis seems impossible. 

From this point of view the study of the evolution 
of mind and its relation to the organic world assumes 
a newimportance. Circumstances have forbidden my 
entering on this subject in the present volume, but I 
hope to be able to devote especial attention to it at a 
future time. One fundamental postulate of mental 
evolution may, however, be mentioned here. That is, 
as Spencer has pointed out, the instinct of hunger is 
at the basis of the activity which has developed the 
intelligence, while that of sex is at the basis of the de- 
velopment of the altruistic or social instincts and affec- 
tions. With this proposition I leave this interesting 
part of the doctrine of evolution. 


CHAPTER XI.—THE OPINIONS OF 
NEOLAMARCKIANS. 


AMARCK ascribed some of the evolutionary changes 
of structure to changes in the environment, some 
to the motions of organic beings, and others to both 
combined.! Spencer in 1865? devoted a short chapter 
to the effect of motion in producing variations, and 
specified the mechanical effect of flexure in producing 
segmentation of the vertebral column. The present 
writer in 18715 insisted on the importance of motion 
as a factor in determining growth, and in 1872! I ap- 
proached the subject more definitely in the following 
language: ‘‘ The first physical law is that growth force 
. must develop extent in the direction of least re- 
sistance, and density on the side of greatest resist- 
ance.” In 1877 Ryder further applied the principle 
of motion to the origin of structural changes, chiefly 
reduction of digits, in the feet of Mammalia in lan- 
guage® which I have quoted on page 311. 
1Philosophie Zoologigue, Chap. VII., 1809; translation in American Nat- 
uralist for 1888. 
2 Principles of Biology, 11., pp. 167 and 195. 


3Proceeds, Amer, Philosoph, Soc., 1871, p. 259. Origin of the Fittest, 1887, p. 
210. 


4 Penn Monthly Magazine, July, 1872. Origin of the Fittest, 1887, p. 30. 
6 American Naturalist, 1877, p. 607. 


‘THE OPINIONS OF NEO-LAMARCKIANS. 519 


-In the same year, in discussing the origin of the 
great development of the incisor teeth in the Roden- 
tia,1 Professor Ryder, in summing up, ventured ‘the 
reflection that the more severe strains to which they 
were subjected by enforced or intelligently assumed 
changes of habit, were the initiatory agents in causing 
them to assume their present forms, such forms as 
were best adapted to resist the greatest strains with- 
out breaking.” In 1878 the writer? advanced the fol- 
lowing proposition: ‘‘ Change of structure is seen to 
take place in accordance with the mechanical effect of 
three kinds of motion, viz., by friction, pressure, and 
strain.”” In the same year Professor Ryder went into a 
discussion of the specific application of strains in the 
evolution of the dental types of the diplarthrous Un- 
gulata, and prepared the field for work in the Rodentia 
and Proboscidia.? In 1879 the writer gave mechan- 
ical reasons for the reduction of the sectorial teeth of 
Carnivora to one, and for their present position in the 
jaws. In 1881 the writer described the specific ac- 
tion of impacts and strains in the production of the 
existing characters of the articulations of the limbs in 
the higher Mammalia. In 1887 the same subject, to- 
gether with that of the mechanical origin of the char- 
acters of the molar teeth, was more fully investigated 
‘in a paper on the Perissodactyla.® In 1888 the writer 
published a paper on the mechanical origin of the sec- 
torial teeth of the Carnivora,? one on the mechanical 


1 Proceeds. Phila, Acad., 1877, p. 318. 

2 American Naturalist, January, 1878. Origin of the Fittest, p. 354. 

8 Proceeds. Phila, Acad., 1878, p. 45. 

4 American Naturalist, March, 1879. 

5 American Naturalist, April and June, 1881. 

6 American Naturalist, 1887, pp. 985, 1060. 

7 Read before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 


New York, 1887, p. 254. 


520 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


origin of the peculiar dentition of the Glires,! and a 
third on the mechanical origin of the dentition of the 
Amblypoda.? In 1889 I discussed the mechanical 
causes of the structures of the elbow and other joints 
in the Artiodactyla and the origin of the peculiar in- 
tervertebral articulations in that order.? In the same 
year I published a résumé of the work done on this 
subject with reference to the Mammalia.‘ Since that 
time important contributions to the subject have been 
made by Ryder, Osborn, Wortman, Dall, Jackson, 
and others, to which reference will now be made. 

Hyatt says as a result of his exhaustive studies 
of the phylogeny of the Cephalopoda®; ‘‘The ac- 
tion of physical changes takes effect upon an irrit- 
able, plastic organism which necessarily responds to 
external stimulants by an internal reaction or effort. 
This action from within upon the parts of organisms 
modifies their hereditary forms by the production of 
new growths or changes, which are therefore adapted 
or suitable to the conditions of the habitat, and are 
therefore physiologically and organically equivalent to 
the physical agents and forces from which they directly 
or indirectly originated. In so far then, as causes and 
habits are similar, they probably produce representa- 
tion or morphological equivalence in different series of 
the same type in similar habitats: and in so far as 
they are different, they probably produce the differen- 

lAmerican Naturalist, January, 1888, p. 3. 

2 Proceeds. Amer, Philosoph. Soc., 1888, p. 80. 


3 American Naturalist, March, 1889. 


4 The American Journal of Morphology, September, 1889, pp. 137-277, ‘On 
the Mechanical Causes of the Development of the Hard Parts of the Mam- 
malia.” 

5 The Genesis of the Arietide, by Alpheus Hyatt; Smithsonian Contribu- 
tions to Knowledge, and Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zodlogy, Vol. 
XVL., No. 3, 1889. 


THE OPINIONS OF NEO-LAMARCKIANS 521 


tials which distinguish series and groups from each 
other.” 

Packard! in discussing the causes of the blindness 
of cave animals, says: ‘‘Such a phrase as ‘natural 
selection,’ we repeat does not to our mind definitely 
bring before us the actual working-causes of the evo- 
lution of these cave organisms, and no one cause can 
apparently account for the result. The causes are 
‘change in the environment,’ disuse of certain organs ; 
‘adaptation,’ ‘isolation,’ and ‘heredity’ operating to 
secure for the future the permanence of the newly orig- 
inated forms as long as the physical conditions remain 
the same.” 

In 1889, Ryder described the ontogenetic origin of 
the articulations of the cartilaginous fin-rays of the 
Salmo fontinalis, and used the facts observed as evi- 
dence that these articulations are due to the mechan- 
ical strain experienced by the rays in use as motors of 
the body of the fish in the water.? 

Prof. H. F. Osborn in 18g03 discussed thoroughly 
the mechanical causes for the displacement of the ele- 
ments of the feet of the ungulate Mammalia from 
linear to alternating relations. (See antea, p. 299.) 
In an article in Wa¢ure,* the same distinguished natu- 
ralist remarks: ‘‘The following views are adopted 
from those held by Cope and others, so far as they con- 
form to my own observations and apply to the class 
of variations which come within the range of paleon- 
tological evidence. In the life of the individual, adap- 

1 On the Cave Fauna of North America,” Memozrs of the U. S, National 
Academy of Sciences, IV, pt., I., p. 137. 

2 Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 1889, p. 546. 

8 Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, XV1., February, 1890, 


p. 531. 
4January 9, 1890, p. 277. 


522 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


tation is increased by local and general metatrophic 
changes of necessity correlated, which take place most 
rapidly in the regions of least perfect adaptation, since 
here the reactions are greatest; the main term of vari- 
ation is determined by the slow transmission, not of 
the full increase of adaptation, but of the disposition 
to adaptive atrophy or hypertrophy at certain points ; 
the variations thus transmitted are accumulated by the 
selection of the individuals in which they are most 
marked, and by the extinction of inadaptive varieties 
or species; selection is thus of the ensemble of new 
and modified characters. Finally, there is sufficient 
paleontological and morphological evidence that ac- 
quired characters in the above limited sense, are trans- 
mitted. ... Excepting in two or three side-lines the 
teeth of all the Mammalia have passed through closely 
parallel early stages of evolution, enabling us to formu- 
latealaw: Zhe new main elements of the crown make 
their appearance at the first points of contact, and chief 
points of wear of the teeth in preceding periods. ‘What- 
ever may be true of spontaneous variations in other 
parts of the organism, these new cusps arise in the 
perfectly definite lines of growth. . . . Now, after ob- 
serving these principles operating in the teeth, look at 
the question enlarged by the evolution of parallel spe- 
cies of the horse series in America and Europe, and 
add to the development of the teeth what is observed 
in progress in the feet. Here is the problem of corre- 
lation in a stronger form even than that presented by 
Spencer and Romanes. To vary the mode of state- 
ment: what must be assumed in the strict application 
of the selection-theory? (@) that variations in the lower 
molars correlated with coincident variations of reversed 
patterns in the upper molars, these with metamorpho- 


THE OPINIONS OF NEO-LAMARCKIANS. 523 


sis in the premolars and pocketing of the incisor- 
enamel; (4) all new elements and forms at first so 
minute as to be barely visible, immediately selected 
and accumulated; (¢) in the same individuals favor- 
able variations in the proportions of the digits involv- 
ing readjustments in the entire limbs and skeleton, all 
coincident with those in the teeth; (7) finally, all the 
above new variations, correlations, and readjustments 
not found in the hereditary germ-plasm of one period, 
but arising fortuitously by the union of different strains, 
observed to occur simultaneously and to be selected at 
the same rate in the species of the Rocky Mountains, 
the Thames Valley, and Switzerland! These assump- 
tions, if anything, are understated.” 

I have already referred to the contribution by Dall 
to the doctrine of kinetogenesis which has resulted 
from his investigations of the origin of the characters 
of the lamellibranchiate (or pelecypod) Mollusca.! He 
observes: ‘In reflecting upon the origin of the com- 
plicated mechanical arrangements in bivalves which 
we call the hinge, I have come to the conclusion that 
here, as in the cases of the mammalian foot and tooth 
elaborated so clearly by Cope and Ryder, we have the 
result of influences of a mechanical nature operating 
upon an organ or apparatus in the process of develop- 
ment. ... The shell is in one sense the product of se- 
cretion from the mantle, as the mammalian tooth is 
derived from the ectoderm of the jaw, or the skeleton 
from the periosteum and cartilages. Both are that 
and much more. It would be as reasonable to say 
that a steam boiler in process of construction is the 
product of the boy inside who holds the rivet-heads, 
as to claim that the shell has no more significance 


8 American Journal of Science and Arts, December, 1889, p. 447. 


524 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


than is implied in the term ‘secretion of the mantle.’ 
The original theoretic protoconch may have been so, 
but ‘as soon as it came into being, its development was 
governed by the physical forces impinging upon it 
from all sides, and through it influencing the growth 
and structure of the soft parts beneath. The gastropod 
shell is the result of the action and reaction between 
the physical forces of the environment, and the evolu- 
tionary tendencies of the organic individual’ In the 
pelecypod we have the mechanical stresses and reac- 
tions of one valve upon the other, added to the cate- 
gory of influences. *To some extent it is doubtless as 
true that the animal is moulded by its shell, as it is 
that the shell is shaped by the soft parts of the ani- 
mal.’ 

Dr. Dall in an able paper on the ‘‘Dynamic In- 
fluences in Evolution,” read before the Biological So- 
ciety of Washington, March 8, 1890, writes thus forci- 
bly: 

‘¢It is often assumed, in discussing variation, that 
the possibility of variation is equal in every direction. 
A consideration of the dynamic conditions of life show 
that this is not the case, or, at least, if we grant its 
theoretic truth, in practice it can never be true. Un- 
der any conditions which would permit it, the result- 
ing organic forms would have to pass their existence 
in constant rotation. The moment that any one of 
them came to rest, it would begin to be subjected to 
unequal stresses relatively to its different parts. Light, 
gravity, friction, opportunities for nutrition, would be 
unequally distributed, with the result of forcing an 
unequal growth, development, and specialization of 
its regions. Inequality of form once established, if it 
were a moving organism, friction and resistance of the 


THE OPINIONS OF NEO-LAMARCKIANS. 525 


circumambient medium, would confirm the inequality, 
and put individuals of its kind at a disadvantage when 
they varied towards the original shape.” 

This is an excellent statement of kinetogenesis in 
concentrated form. 

Prof. A. S. Packard in an important essay ‘On 
the Evolution of the Bristles, Spines, and Tubercles 
of Certain Caterpillars,” etc., remarks as follows :} 
‘‘The Lamarckian factors (1) of change (both direct 
and indirect) in the mz/ieu, (2) need, (3) habit, and the 
now generally adopted principle that a change of func- 
tion induces change in organs, and in some or many 
cases actually induces the hypertrophy and specialisa- 
tion of what otherwise would be indifferent parts or 
organs. These factors are all important in the evolu- 
tion in the colors, ornaments, and outgrowths from 
the cuticle of caterpillars. .. . 

‘¢So far as Iam aware no one has suggested why 
these horns and high tubercles and often pencils of 
hairs are restricted to these particular segments. As 
a partial explanation of the reason, it may be stated 
that the presence of these high tubercles, etc., is cor- 
related with the absence of abdominal legs on the seg- 
ments bearing the former. It will also be noticed that 
in walking the apodous segments of the caterpillar are 
more elevated and prominent than those to which the 
legs are appended. They tend to bend or hump up, 
particularly the first and the eighth abdominal, the 
ninth segment being reduced to a minimum, and the 
tenth simply represented by the suranal and paranal 
plates, together with the last pair of legs. 

‘‘As is well known, the loopers or geometrid worms, 
while walking elevate or bend up the part of the body 


1 Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, 1890, p. 493, 510-513. 


526 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


situated between the last thoracic and first pair of ab- 
dominal legs, which are appended to the seventh 
euomere. Now in the larva of Mematocarpa filamentaria 
which bears two pairs of remarkable filamental tuber- 
cles rolled up at the end, it is certainly very sugges- 
tive that these are situated on top of the loop made 
by the caterpillar’s body during progression, the first 
pair arising from the second, and the hinder pair from 
the fourth abdominal segment. 

‘«It seems, therefore, that the humps or horns arise 
from the most prominent portions of the body, at the 
point where the body is most exposed to external stim- 
uli; and the force of this is especially seen in the con- 
spicuous position of those tubercles which are volun- 
tarily made to nod or so move as to frighten away 
other creatures. Perhaps the tendency of these seg- 
ments to loop or hump up, has had a relation of cause 
and effect in inducing the hypertrophy of the dermal 
tissues entering into the composition of the tubercles 
or horns.” 

Prof. W. B. Scott! says: ‘*To sum up the results 
of our examination of certain series of fossil mammals, 
one sees clearly that transformation, whether in the 
way of the addition of new parts or the reduction of 
those already present, acts just as zf the direct action 
of the environment and the habits of the animal were 
the efficient cause of the change, and any explanation 
which excludes the direct action of such agencies is 
confronted by the difficulty of an immense number of 
the most striking coincidences. . . . So far as I can see 
the theory of determinate variations and of use-inheri- 
tance, is not antagonistic, but supplementary to nat- 
ural selection, the latter theory attempting no explana- 


lAmerican Journal of Morphology, 1891, pp. 395, 398. 


THE OPINIONS OF NEO.LAMARCKIANS. 527 


tion of the causes of variation. Nor is it pretended for 
a moment that use and disuse are the sole or even the 
chief factors in variation.” 

European authors, partly from their less favorable 
situation for the obtaining of paleontologic evidence, 
have not contributed as much as Americans to the 
doctrine of bathmogenesis. Nevertheless, in England 
Spencer, Cunningham, Henslow, and others have sus- 
tained this doctrine, and in France Giard and Edmond 
Perrier, and in Germany, Semper, Eimer, and others, 
who lean principally in their writings to its physio- 
genetic aspect. Says Eimer:! 

“According to my conception, the physical and 
chemical changes which organisms experience during 
life, through light or want of light, air, warmth, cold, 
moisture, food, etc., and which they transmit by her- 
edity, are the primary elements in the production of 
the manifold variety of the organic world, and in the 
origin of species. From the materials thus supplied, 
the struggle for existence makes its selection. These 
changes, however, express themselves simply as 
growth.” 

Nageli discards completely the agency of natural 
selection, and sees an internal ‘‘ Principle of Improve- 
ment” as the active agent in evolution. He appar- 
ently includes both statogenesis and bathmogenesis in 
his conception.? He says: 

“‘Such internal causes must necessarily be sup- 
posed merely on the ground that modifications or vari- 
ations of the phyla do actually take place in definite 
directions, are not irregular. The internal causes effect 


1 Organic Evolution, English Translation, 1890, p. 22. 
2Mechanische physiologische Abstammungslehre, C. V. Nageli, Munich, 
1884. : 


528 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


a constant alteration of the phyla in definite directions, 
towards greater perfection, that is, towards greater 
complexity.” Accordingly Nageli describes his theory 
of internal causes, as the ‘Principle of Improvement.” 
‘« Superficial reasoners,” he says, ‘‘have pretended to 
discover mysticism in this. But the principle is one 
of a mechanical nature and constitutes the law of per- 
sistence of motion in the field of organic evolution. 
Once the motion of evolution is started it cannot cease, 
but must persist in its original direction.” 

For convenience of reference I give a list of pa- 
pers by American authors on this subject. European 
authors, beginning with Lamarck, and including Spen- 
cer, have implicitly included in their theses the effects 
of mechanical strains and impacts in developing the 
structures of animals. Fick, Henke, Tornier, and 
others have attempted an exact demonstration of the 
manner in which these forms of mechanical energy 
have produced the results. These attempts have great 
merit as physiological studies, but they have not been 
used by their authors as illustrations of specific evolu- 
tion, owing to the fact that they have not carried their 
researches into the field of paleontology. 


LIST OF PAPERS BY AMERICAN AUTHORS WHO HAVE 
CONTRIBUTED TO THE EVIDENCE 
USED IN THIS BOOK. 


1866. Hyatt, A. Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural His- 
tory, p. 203. On the Parallelism Between Stages in the 
Individual and those in the Groups of Tetrabranchiata. 

1866. Cope, E. D. Transactions of the American Philosophical 
Society, p. 398. On the Cyprinidz of Pennsylvania. 

1871. Cope, E. D. Proceedings of the American Philosophical 
Society, p. 259. On the Method of Creation of Organic 
Types; reprinted in Origin of the Fittest, 1887, pp. 210, 
195, 199. 


1872. 


1877. 


1877. 


1878. 


1878. 


1879. 


(880. 


1881. 


1883. 


1885. 


1885. 


1885. 


1885. 


1886. 


LHE OPINIONS OF NEO-LAMARCKIANS. 529 


Cope, E. D. Penn Monthly Magazine; May-July. On Evo- 
lution and Its Consequences ; reprinted in Origin of the 
Fittest, 1887, p. 30. 

Ryder, J. A. American Naturalist, p. 607. On the Laws 
of Digital Reduction. 

Ryder, J. A. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sci- 
ences of Philadelphia, p. 314. On the Significance of the 
Diameter of the Incisors of the Rodents. 

Cope, E.D. American Naturalist, January. The Relation 
of Animal Motion to Animal Evolution; reprinted in 
Origin of the Fittest, 1887, p. 350. 

Ryder, J. A. Proceedings Academy Natural Sciences, Phila- 
delphia, p. 45. On the Mechanical Genesis of Tooth- 
Forms. 

Cope, E. D. American Naturalist, March. On the Origin 
of the Specialized Teeth of the Carnivora; Origin of the 
Fittest, 1887, p. 363. 

Hyatt, A. Memoirs Boston Society Natural History, Fiftieth 
Anniversary. Genesis of the Tertiary Species of Planor- 
bis at Steinheim. 

Cope, E. D. American Naturalist, April and June. On the 
Origin of the Foot-Structures of the Ungulates. On the 
Effect of Impacts and Strains on the Feet of Mammalia ; 
Origin of the Fittest, 1887, pp. 368, 373. 

Ryder, J. A. Popular Science Monthly, XIII., pp. 139- 
145, 4 figs. The Gigantic Extinct Armadillos and Their 
Peculiarities, [Discusses the mechanical genesis, degen- 
eration, and coalescence of vertebral centra. ] 

Ryder, J. A. American Naturalist, pp. 411-415. On the 
Position of the Yolk-Blastopore as Determined by the Size 
of the Vitellus. 

Ryder, J. A. American Naturalist, pp. 815-819 and 903- 
go7- On the Availability of Embryological Characters in 
the Classification of the Chordata. 

Ryder, J. A. American Naturalist, pp. 1013-1016. On the 
Genesis of the Extra Terminal Phalanges in the Cetacea. 

Ryder, J. A. American Naturalist, pp. 90-97. An Outline 
of a Theory of the Development of the Unpaired Fins of 
Fishes. 

Ryder, J.A. American Naturalist, pp. 179-185. The Origin 
of the Amnion. 


530 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


1886. 


1887. 
1887. 


1888. 


1888. 


1888. 
1888. 


1889. 


1889. 
1889. 


1889. 


1889. 


1889. 
1889. 
18g0. 
1890. 


1890. 


Ryder, J. A. Annual Report U. S. Commissioner of Fish 
and Fisheries for 1884, pp. 981-1085, Pl. IX. On the 
Origin of Heterocercy, etc. 

Ryder, J. A. American Naturalist, pp. 780-784. A Theory 
of the Origin of Placental Types, etc. 

Cope, E. D. American Naturalist, pp. 985, 1060. The 
Perissodactyla. 

Cope, E. D. Proceedings of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science, p. 254. On the Mechanical 
Origin of the Sectorial Teeth of the Carnivora. 

Cope, E. D. American Naturalist, p. 3. The Mechanical 
Causes of the Origin of the Dentition of the Rodentia. 
Cope, E. D. Proceedings of the American Philosophical 
Society, p. 80. The Mechanical Origin of the Dentition 

of the Amblypoda. 

Ryder, J. A. American Naturalist, p. 547. The Several 
Functions of the Enamel Organ in the Development of the 
Teeth of Mammals, and on the Inheritance of Mutilations. 

Cope, E. D. American Naturalist, March. The Artiodac- 
tyla. (The elbow-joint ; the zygapophyses. ) 

Cope, E. D. American Journal of Morphology, III., p. 137. 
The Mechanical Causes of the Development of the Hard 
Parts of the Mammalia. 

Hyatt, A. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, and 
Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zodlogy, Cam- 
bridge, XVI., No. 3. The Genesis of the Arietidz. 

Dall, W. H. American Journal Science and Arts, XXXVIII., 
Pp. 445. Hinge of Pelecypoda and Its Development. 

Osborn, H. F. Transactions American Philosophical So- 
ciety, XVI., p. 531. (Published February, 1890.) The 
Evolution of the Ungulate Foot; The Mammalia of the 
Uinta Formation. 

Ryder, J. A. American Naturalist, pp. 218-221. The Po- 
lar Differentiation of Volvox, etc. 

Ryder, J. A. American Naturalist, pp. 271-274. The Quad- 
rate Placenta of Sciurus hudsonius. 

Ryder, J. A. Proceedings American Philosophical Society, 
XXVIII., pp. 109-159. The Origin of Sex, etc. 

Ryder, J. A. American Naturalist, pp. 376-378. The Pla- 
centation of the Hedgehog and Phylogeny of the Placenta. 

Packard, A.S. Proceedings Boston Society Natural His- 


1890. 


1890. 


1890. 


1891. 


1891. 


1892. 


1892. 


1892. 


1893. 
1893. 


1893. 


1893. 
1893. 


1893. 


THE OPINIONS OF NEO-LAMARCKIANS. 531 


tory, XXIV., p. 493. Hints on the Evolution of Certain 
Bristles, Spines, and Tubercles of Certain Caterpillars. 

Dall, W. H. Proceedings of the Biological Society of 
Washington, May. On Dynamic Influence in Evolution. 

Jackson, R. T. Memoirs Boston Society Natural History, 
IV., p. 277 (July); American Naturalist, 1891, p. 11. 
Phylogeny of the Pelecypoda; The Aviculide and Their 
Allies. 

Dall, W. H. Transactions of the Wagner Free Institute of 
Science, Philadelphia, ITI., p. 58 (September). American 
Naturalist, 1894, p.go9. Origin of the Plaits on Columella 
of Gastropoda. 

Scott, W. B. American Journal of Morphology, p. 378. 
On the Osteology of Mesohippus and Leptomeryx; On 
Some of the Factors in the Evolution of the Mammalia. 

Ward, Lester F. Proceedings Biological Society of Wash- 
ington, Annual Address. Neo-Darwinism and Neo-La- 
marckism. 

Elliot, D.G. The Auk, IX., January. The Inheritance of 
Acquired Characters. 

Ryder, J. A. American Naturalist, pp. 923-929. A Geo- 
metrical Representation of the Relative Intensity of the 
Conflict Between Organisms. 

Ryder, J. A. Proceedings Academy Natural Sciences, Phila- 
delphia, pp. 219-224. On the Mechanical Genesis of the 
Scales of Fishes. 

Sharp, Benj. American Naturalist (February), p. 89. Joint 
Formation Among the Invertebrata. 

Ryder, J. A. Proceedings American Philosophical Society, 
p. 192. Energy as a Factor in Organic Evolution. 

Hyatt, Alpheus. Proceedings Boston Society Natural His- 
tory, p. 59. Bioplastology and the Related Branches of 
Biologic Research. 

Riley, C. V. Proceedings Entomological Society Washing- 
ton, II., June, No. 4. Parasitism in Insects. 

Orr, Henry B. A Theory of Development and Heredity. 
New York and London: Macmillan & Co. 8vo. pp. 255. 

Hyatt Alpheus. Proceedings of the American Philosophical 
Society, p. 349. The Phylogeny of an Acquired Charac- 
teristic. 


532 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


1894. Ryder, J. A. American Naturalist, p. 154. Orr’s Theory 
of Development and Heredity. 

1894. Cope, E. D. American Naturalist, p. 205. The Energy of 
Evolution. 

1894. Cope, E.D. New Occasions, No. 6 (May), Chicago. The 
Origin of Structural Variations. 

1894. Scott, W.B. American Journal Science and Arts, XLVIII. 
P. 355. Mutation and Variation. 


INDEX. 


Abnormal articulations, 275. 
Abortion of phalanges in ungulates, 
353- 
Acanthodeans, 92. 
Acanthopterygia, 102, 103, 104, 105, 
108, 
Acceleration, 9, 201. 
_Acquired characters, 10, 399, 401, 402, 
458. 
Acrania, 87, 94, 95, 193. 
Acris, 71. 
Actinopterygia, 100, 172. 
Actinozoa, 82, 83. 
Adapidae, 155. 
Adirondacks, 50. 
lurodon sevus Leidy, 342. 
Ethalium, 503. 
#Etheria, 267. 
Affections, 517. 
Africa, 73, 88, 115, 163, 168, 462. 
Agamidae, 73. 
Agassiz, A., 172, 175. 
Ageleus pheniceus, 52. 
Ageniosus, 103. 
Aglossa, 63. 
Agnatha, 99, 195. 
Alaska, 49, 50. 
Algae, 75, 77. 
Allen, H. Dr., 47, 302, 334) 357+ 
Allen, J. A., 45. 
Altruism, 517. 
Amblypoda, 128, 132, 133, 141, 143,144, 
2971 341, 354, 520. 
Amblyrhiza, 352. 
Amblystoma tigrinum, 58, 59, 200. 
Amblystomidae, 58, 199. 
Ameghino, 154, 157) 357, 365. 
America, 426. 


Ametabola, 203. 
Ammoceetes, 204. 
Ammonitinae, 187, 188, 189, 190 
Ammonoids, 187, 188, 422. 
Ammonoidea, 421. 
Ameba, 76, 249. 
Ameebodect mastication, 318. 
Amphignathodontidae, 71. 
Amphimizis, 459. 
Amphioxus, 86, 457. 
Amphisilidae, 104. 
Amphiuma, 113, 218. 
Anabolism, 481. 
Anacanthini, 105, 106. 
Anagenesis, 202, 475, 479, 516. 
Anaplasis, 2o1. 
Anaptomorphus, 155. 
Anaptomorphidae, 154. 
Anarcestes, 187. 
Anchitherium, 148, 320, 359. 
Ancistrodon contortrix, 22. 
Ancyloceras, 189. 
Ancylopoda, 128, 140, 143. 
Anelytropidae, 123. 
Anguidae, 123. 
Annelides, 269. 
Anniellidae, 123. 
Anodonta, 261. 
Anomia, 170, 177. 
Anomia glabra, 265. 
Anomodontia, 115. 
Anthropomorpha, 132, 133, 143, 154 
157, 158, 159, 305. 
Antichemism, 484. 
Antilocapra americana, 55. 
Ants, 462, 500. 
Anura, 107, I10, III, 113. 
Aphrododiridae, 104. 


534 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Appendicularidae, 87. 

Archesthetism, 505, 513. 

Archean beds, 83. 

Archeopteryx, 124. 

Archipterygium, 91. 

Archosauria, 114. 

Arcifera, 64, 65, 70, 71, 196, 197, 389. 

Arctic Region, 52. 

Argentina, 357. 

Ariétidae, 189. 

Artemia, 229, 230, 466. 

Artemia salina, 229; A. mtuelhausenii, 
229. 

Arthropoda, 80, 81, 82, 83 172, 250, 253, 
268. 269, 368, 369, 389, 391, 404. 

Articulations, of Arthropoda, 269; of 
Vertebrata, 275, 287. 

Artiodactyla, 69, 132, 133, 150, 195, 248, 
295, 296, 312, 313, 314, 315, 318, 320, 
325, 359, 360, 361, 520. 

Arvicola, 349, 351. 

Aryan, 159. 

Asia, 73. 

Aspergillum, 265. 

Astacus, hand of, 274. 

Atrophy, of incisor teeth, 356; of the 
ulna and fibula, 355. 

Australia, 72. 

Australians, 163, 166. 

Austroriparian, 29. 

Avian line, 123. 

Axis, 196, 199. 

Axolotl, 58. 


Bactrites, 187. 
Baculites, 189, 190. 
Bain, 494. 

Baird, S. F., 47. 

Baker, F. Dr., 469. 
Balena mysticetus, 353. 
Ball, W. P., 461, 465, 466. 
Barber, M. E., 231, 234. 
Barrande, 185. 
Barrandeoceras, 413. 
Batavia, 168. 

Bather, 192. 

Bathmic energy, 480. 
Bathmism, 449, 479, 484. 
Bathmogenesis, 484, 486. 
Bathyergus, 349. 
Batrachia, 87, 88, 89, 91, 94, 95, 97, 98, 


108, 115, 116, 121, 172, 193, 195, 196, 
218, 253, 363, 364, 365, 368, 372, 388. 

Batrachia, line of the, 108; respira- 
tion of, 93, 193; remains of, 110; B. 
salentia, 8, 63, 69, 70, 314, 389; B. uvo- 
dela, 314, 367. 

Batrachidae, 107. 

Baur, G. 115, 366. 

Bear, 21. 

Beauchamp, 500. 

Beard, Dr. 85. 

Beaumé, 229. 

Beddard, F. E., 238, 240, 292- 

Beecher, C. E., 10, 176, 191. 

Bees, 463, 465. 

Belt, 500. 

Berthollet, 483. 

Bioplastology, 192. 

Blastocerus, 196. 

Blastomeryx, 317. 

Blindness of cave animais, 241. 

Boa constrictor, 122. 

Bodidea, 328. 

Bos, 144; B. taurus, 22, 

Bouchardia, 178, 179. 

Bovidae, 69, 209, 313, 315, 317. 

Brachiopoda, 191. 

Brachiopodus Mollusca, 58. 

Bradypus, 313. 

Bragg, C. L. 244. 

Brain, vertebrate—development of 
94. 

Branchinecta ferox, 230; B, media, 
230; B. schefferit, 230; B. spinosa, 
230. ' 

Branchiostoma, 86, 92. 

Branco, 188 

Brazil, 462. 

Breeding, 422, 437. 

Brehm, 301. 

Brevicipitidae, 70. 

Brewer, W. H., 422, 426, 430, 431, 435, 
437. 

Bridger, 139. 

Brinton, 468. 

British America, 49. 

Brooks, 86, 454, 459. 

Brown, A., 189, 190. 

Brown-Séquard, 430. 

Brunn, A. von, 403, 446. 

Buccinum, 260, 


INDEX, + 


Buckman, J., 23, 189, 228. 

Bufonidae, 65, 70, 189, 199, 389. 

Bumpus, H. C., 242. 

Bunotheria, 127, 132, 133, 140, 141, 145. 

Bushmen, 159. 

Butterfly, peacock, 232; B., swallow- 
tailed, 231; B., tortoise shell, 232, 


Caciliidae, 113, 218. 

Cenoceras aratum, 417; C. clausam, 
417; C. intermedium, 417; C. linea- 
tum, 417. 

Czenogeny, 200, 209. 

Calamodon, 330. 

California, 50. 

Callianassa, 273. 

Callianassa stimpsonit, 242, 273. 

Calyptocephalus gayi D. and B., 68, 

Cambarus bartoniz, 241; C. setonzi, 
241. 

Cambrian, beds, 83; time, 176. 

Camelidae, 69. 

Canidae, 48, 49, 59, 339, 342. 

Canis, 21, 59; /atrans, 48; lupus, 48. 

Caprimulgidae, 126. 

Carbonic, epoch, 99, 101, 108, 184, 188, 
416, 417, 418, 419, 420; beds, 77, 363. 

Cardium, 261. 

Cariacus, 196. 

Carnivora, 48, 50, 127, 132, 133, 135, 
140, 143, 144, 293, 302, 305, 309, 318, 
322, 330, 335, 340, 343, 346, 360, 361, 
379, 388, 519. 

Carpophyta, 77. 

Carriére, M., 227. 

Carter, H. J., 504. 

Cary, 377, 378, 379, 380, 381, 402. 

Cassina, 71. 

Castor, 351. 

Castoroides, 330, 349, 351. 

Castoroides ohioensis, 347, 350. 

Catagenesis, 202, 211, 475, 479, 516. 

Cataplasis, 202. 

Caterpillars, 230, 525. 

Causes of variations, 223. 

Cave animals, 241, 521. 

Cavia, 348. 

Caviidae, 351, 352- 

Cebidae, 155. 

Cebus apella, 500; C. capucinus, 500, 

Cell-division, 489. 


535 


Cells, germ, 447, 480; glandular, 440; 
muscle, 249; nerve, 450, 453; repro- 
ductive, 446, 453; somatic, 453, 456. 

Cenogenesis, 200. 

Cenozoic, 304, 357, 419, 420. 

Centetes, 335. 

Centetidae, 145, 335. 

Central America, 29, 49, 52. 

Centrina, 53, 68, 388. 

Cephalopoda, 8, 182, 183, 192, 218, 405, 
408, 520. 

Ceratobatrachidae, 71. 

Ceratophrys, 71. 

Cercopithecidae, 469. 

Cervidae, 51, 69, 196, 315, 317. 

Cervus, 196, 312. 

Cervus canadensis, 297; elaphus, 298. 

Cetacea, 127, 138, 140, 142, 143, 145, 155, 
268, 303, 304, 352, 353, 355) 374- 

Chabry, 458. 

Chaetodontidae, 107. 

Chama, 267. 

Characiniidae, 103. 

Chelmo, 107. 

Chelydobatrachus gouldi? Gray, 68. 

Chemism, 484. 

Chilonyx, 117. 

Chimpanzee, elbow-joint of, 295. 

Chinchillidae, 351, 352. 

Chirogidae, 324. 

Chiroptera, 127, 132, 143, 336, 358. 

Chiropterygium, 91. 

Chirox, 325. 

Chlorophyll, 75. 

Choloepus, 313. 

Chondrioderma difforme, 220. 

Chondrotus tenebrosus, 58, 59. 

Chordata, 86, 205, 215, 218. 

Chorology, 387. 

Chrysochloridae, 335. 

Chrysochloris, 310. 

Cicindela, variations in, 25. 

Ciona intestinalis, 456. 

Cladodus, roo. 

Clarke, 176, 191. 

Claus, 211. 

Clepsydropidae, 319. 

Climatius, 92. 

Cnemidophorus, 199; color-variation 
of, 41. 

Cnemidophorus deppei, 41; C. gra- 


536 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


hamii, 46; C. gularis, 41, 46, 200; C. 
costatus, 46; C. scalaris, 46, 200; C. 
semifasciatus, 43, 46; C. mariarum, 
41, 45; C. sexlineatus, 41, 46; C. tes- 
sellatus, 41, 46; C. melanostethus, 
46; C. perplexus, 46; C. rubidus, 45, 
46; C. septemvittatus, 46; C. vario- 
losus, 46. 

Coassus, 196. 

Cobitis, 363. 

Cobra de capello, 22. 

Coelacanthidae, 91. 

Coelenterata, 79, 81, 82, 83, 250. 

Calogasteroceras canaliculatum, 421. 

Cohesion, 484. 

Colaptes auratus, 52. 

Coleoptera, 203. 

Colocephali, 104, 106. 

Coloceras globatum, 4, 16. 

Color changes, in Lepidoptera, 230; 
in cocoons, 440; in birds, 238; in 
fishes, 499; in tree-frogs, 499. 

Color variations, in the genus Cicin- 
dela, 25; in Osceola doliata, 29; in 
Cnemidophorus, 41. 

Colostethidae, 78. 

Columba livia, 21. 

Complementary growth-energy, 248. 

Conditions of inheritance, 438. 

Condylarthra, 84, 85, 132, 133, 134, 135» 
141, 143, 157, 356, 357, 359, 388. 

Coniferae, 77. 

Conscious energy, 507. 

Consciousness, 495, 505. 

Consciousness and automatism, 495. 

Conversion of Artemia into Branchi- 
ata, 229. 

Cope, E. D., 8, 528. 

Copepoda, 211. 

Cophylidae, 70. 

Copperhead, 22. 

Corvus americanus, 52. 

Coryphodon, 354. 

Coryphodontidae, 318. 

Cosoryx, 315, 317. 

Cosoryx furcatus, 315; C. necatus, 315; 
C. ramosus, 315; C. teres, 315. 

Cossus ligniperda, 237. 

Costa Rica, 50, 

Cotylosauria, 87, 88, 113, 115, 122, 172. 

Crangon, hand of, 274. 


Craniomi, 100. 

Creodonta, 336, 337, 338, 339, 341, 343, 
388. 

Cretaceous, 139, 143, 184, 189, 419, 420, 
421, 422. 

Cricotus crassidiscus, 111, 

Crioceras, 189. 

Crocodilia, 94, 114, 116, 

Crocuta maculata, 294. 

Crossopterygia, 100, 101. 

Crotalus horridus, 22. 

Crustacea, 211, 271, 273. 

Cryptopnoy, 494. 

Ctenophora, 272. 

Ctetology, 192. 

Cunningham, J. L., 238, 527. 

Cyanurus cristatus, 52. 

Cyclops, 212. 

Cyclopterus, 108. 

Cycloturus, 314. 

Cymatoceras elegans, 418. 

Cynodictis getsmarianus, 341. 

Cynognathidae, 88, 

Cyprza, 260. 

Cyprezidae, 261. 

Cyprinidae, 103. 

Cyrtoceras, 185, 408, 413. 

Cystignathidae, 65, 70, 71. 

Cystignathus pachypus, 390. 


Dall, W. H., 10, 58, 255, 520, 530, 531- 

Dama, 196, 

Darwin, C., 3, 4, 5, 6,7, 14, 231, 247, 
248, 249, 385, 387, 398, 474, 480. 

Darwin, E., 10, 505. 

Daubentonioidea, 128. 

Degeneracy, 247; in birds, 126; in 
plants, 76; in reptiles, 122; in crus- 
tacea, 211; in mollusca, 213; in 
vertebrata, 215. 

Delphinidae, 303. 

Deltatherium fundamintis, 335. 

Dendrobatidae, 70. 

Dendrophryniscidae, 70. 

Dentition modification, in Canidae, 
59; in Felidae, 60; in Homo, 60, 61; 
in lemurs, 61; in lower placental 
mammals, 61; in monkeys, 61. 

Depuy, 430. 

Dercetidae, 104. 

Descartes, 498. 


INDEX. 


Designed action in animals, 500. 

Devonic period, 77, 91, 101, 172, 184, 
186, 188, 362, 415, 420, 422, 

Diadectidae, 89. 

Diadiaphorus, 359. 

Dibamidae, 123. 

Dicrocerus, 315. 

Didelphodus, 335. 

Didymium squamulosum, 220. 

Digits, number of, 309. 

Dimorphodon, 120. 

Dimya, 267. 

Dinocerata, 314, 315, 356. 

Dinosauria, 98, 114, 116, 120, 121, 122, 
304, 372. 

Dioplotherium, 330. 

Diplarthra, 84, 128, 133, 136, 143, 144, 
146, 293, 295, 297, 300, 302, 305, 306, 
312, 313, 320, 332, 360, 403. 

Diplogenesis, 12, 441, 443) 470. 

Dipneusta, 89. 

Dipnoi, 89, 99. 

Diprodontidae, 143. 

Diptera, 203, 204. 

Dipus, 361. 

Disciniscus, 177. 

Dissacus, 302. 

Disuse in Mammalia, 352. 

Dog-opossum, 22. 

Dohrn, 204. 

Dolichotis, 361; D. patachonica, 305. 

Dollo, rar. 

Domestic fowls, 21. 

D’ Orbigny, 417. 

Dorypterus, 103. 

Driesch, 457. 

DuBois, Dr., 159, 168, 169. 

Duméril, 58. 

Dynamical evolution, 524. 

Dyscophidae, 70. 

Dysodus, 59, 146. 


Echidermata, 368. 

Echinodermata, 80, 81, 82, 83. 

Echinus, 457. 

Ectal mastication, 318. 

Edaphoceras, 186. 

Edentata, 127, 132, 133, 138, 141, 143, 
145, 186, 195, 303, 305, 310, 356, 360. 

Education, 505. 

Eels, 103. 


537 


Eftect of feeding on color in birds, 
238. 

Effect of light on the colors of flat- 
fishes, 238. 

Effects of consciousness, 509. 

Efficient cause, 10, 497, 498. 

Eigenmann, C., 244. 

Eimer, 23, 45, 252, 254, 527. 

Elasmobranchii, 91, 94, 95, 99. 

Elasmotherium, 314. 

Elbow-joint, of Cervus elaphus, 296; 
of chimpanzee, 295; of horse, ab- 
normal, 278; human, abnormal,277. 

Elephas, 145, 330. 

Elliot, D. G., 531. 

Elosia nasus Licht, 68. 

Embolomeri, 88, 109, 110. 

Embryology, 202, 209, 401. 

Embryonic variations, 444. 

Emphytogenesis, 486. 

Endoceras, 186. 

Endolobus, 186; £. excavatum, 417. 

Energies, specific, 480. 

Energy, 448, 451, 506, 507, 512; Synop- 
tic table of, 484; anagenetic, 478, 
484; definition of, 473; of evolu- 
tion, 473; catagenetic, 479, 484; cor- 
relation of, 506; inorganic, 475, 484, 
512: composition of, 490. 

Engystomidae, 70. 

Enhydra, 352. 

Ental mastication, 318. 

Entoconcha mirabilis, 213. 

Environment, physical influences of, 
436, 452, 475- 

Eocene, 61, 104, 135, 138, 139, 142, 143, 
145, 147, 150, 154, 155, 173, 205, 304- 
365, 377- 

Epigenesis, 13. 

Epihippus, 147, 148. 

Epilasmia, 107. 

Epilepsy in Cavia, 430. 

Equidae, 313. 

Equilibrium, 508. 

Equus, 145, 149, 359; Z. cabadlus, 84, 
300. 

Ergogenesis, 486. 

Erinaceus, 127. 

Erismatopterus, 104. 

Eryops megacepalus, 371. 

Esquimaux, 61, 153. 


538 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


Esthonyx, 329. 
Eudoceratidae, 186. 
Euprotogonia, 147. 
Europe, 55, 160, 426, 427. 
Europeans, 166. 
Europeo-Americans, 153. 
Eurypharyngidae, 104. 
Eusophus nebulosus Gir, 68. 
Eusthenopteron foor diz, 91. 
Eutenia, 63; Z. saurita, 21; E. strta- 
lis, 21, 63. 
Eutheria, 373. 
Evolution, science of, 22. 
Expression points, 25. 


Faxoe, 418. 

Feet of Chinese women, 399. 

Felidae, 48, 49, 145, 342. 

Felis, 339. 

Felts concolor, 49; F. domestica, 21; 
F. pardalis, 50. 

Fellahs, 163. 

Ferns, 77. 

Fick, R., 283, 284, 286, 377, 528. 

Firmisternia, 64, 70, 71, 196, 197, 389, 
390. 

Fisher, 91, 99, 101, 104. 

Fishes, ancestral type of, 86, 91, 99. 

Fistularia, 104. 

Flatfishes, 238. 

Flexure, 368, 

Florida, 52, 56. 

Flossensaum, 243. 

Forel, 463. 

Forsyth-Major, 334, 469. 

Fraipont, 160, 161, 165, 166, 170. 

France, 83, 470, 315. 

Friction, 279, 519, 378, 490. 

Fuligo, 503. 

Functions of consciousness, 495. 

Fungi, 70, 219. 

Furcifer, 197. 

Fusus parilis, 257, 


Gage, 363. 
Galeopithecus, 328. 
Gallinae, 391. 
Gallus sp., 21. 
Galton, Dr., 12, 47%. 
Ganocephali, 110, 
Garman, S., 241. 


Garter-snake, 21. 

Gasterosteidae, 104. 

Gastraea theory, 202. 

Gastrechmia, 63. 

Gastropoda, plaits in shell of, 255. 

Gazella dorcas, 301. 

Gebia, 273. 

Gecconidae, 73, 88, 122. 

Gegenbaur, 91, 366. 

Gelocus, 312. 

Genealogy, of man, 171; of the horse, 
146. 

Genesiology, 192. 

Geomyidae, 352. 

Giard, 527. 

Glauconiidae, 121. 

Gleditschia, 228. 

Glires, 51, 127, 132, 133, 135) 141, 143, 
305, 318, 324, 328, 329, 330, 331, 334s 
345, 346, 360, 361, 404. 

Glochidia, 203 

Glossophaga, 328. 

Glossophaginae, 356. 

Gloxinia, 384. 

Glyptodontidae, 303. 

Gobius, 499. 

Goethe, 247. . 

Gonagenic variations, 444. 

Goniatitinae, 186, 187, 188, 422. 

Gravitation, 484. 

Growth-energy, 449, 473; G. force, 
484. 

Gulick, 388. 

Gulo luscus, 50. 

Gtnther, 123, 390. 

Gwynia, 178, 179. 

Gymnosperms, 79. 

Gyroceras, 185. 


Haeckel, E., 7, 8, 85, 88, 89, 154, 169, 
175) 201, 202, 387, 448, 454. 

Halicore, 330, 336. 

Hall, 176. 

Halloceras, 186. 

Hamites, 189. 

Hapalidae, 141. 

Haplodoci, 106, 107. 

Haplomi, 103, 104, 106. 

Harpa, 261. 

Hawaiian Islands, 388, 

Heliotropism, 503. 


INDEX. 


Hemibranchii, 104, 106. 

Hemimantuis, 71. 

Hemiphractidae, 71. 

Henke, 277, 283, 528. 

Henslow, G., 23, 226, 227, 228, 383, 384, 
527. 

Herdman, 215. 

Heredity, 398. 

Hering, 492. 

Hertwig, 456, 457. 

Hesperornithidae, 124. 

Heteroglossa, 71. 

Heterologous series, 71. 

Heteromorphosis, 455. 

Heterosomata, 105, 106. 

Hilgard, S. W., 433. 

Hinnites, 267. 

Hippocampidae, 105. 

Hippopotamidae, 69. 

Hippopotamus, 330, 402. 

Hippotherium, 84, 149, 359; /¥. sed7- 
terraneum, B4. 

Héffding, 498. 

Holocephali, 99. 

Holoptychiidae, gr. 

Holostei, ror, 102. 

Holostomi, 106, 

Hominidae, 157. 

Homo, 155, 158, 169, 170. 

Homogeneous series, 71. 

Homogeny, 72. 

Homologous, series, 71. 

Homology, 19. 

Homo neanderthalensis, 170; HH. sa- 
piens, 170; H. erectus, 169. 

Homoplassy in Mammalia, 72, 357. 

Homoplastic series, 71. 

Hoplobatrachus, 71. 

Horn, G. H., 25, 29. 

Horns, 314; of Cervus elaphus, 197. 

Horse, evolution of trotting, 426; H. 
phylogeny of, 146, 522. 

House-fly, 254. 

Hunger, 504. 

Hurst, C. H., 205, 207. 

Hitter, 251, 275. 276, 331. 

Huxley, 89, 99, 476. 

Hyaenidae, 145, 342, 343- 

Hyaenodon, 343. 

Hyatt, A., 8,9, 10, 175, 182, 183, 201, 


539 


202, 266, 268, 405, 420, 451, 520, 528, 
529, 530, 531. 
ybodus, 332. 
esDiguttatus, 22, 
Hydroids, 82. 
Hydrotropism, 501. 
Hyla, 11, 198, 199; H. carolinensis, 499; 
Al, gratiosa, 499. 
Hylella, 71, 198, 199. 
Hylidae, 65, 70, 198. 
Hylobates, 159. 
Hymen, 399. 
Hymenoptera, 82, 203. 
Hyopotamus, 312. 
Hyperolius, 71. 
Hypothesis of the origin of the divi- 
sions of the Vertebrata, 362. 
Hypsiboas donmercti D. and B., 68; 
HI, punctatus Schu., 68. 
Hyracoidea, 132, 133, 141, 143. 332. 
Hyracotheriinae, 313. 
Hyracotherium, 147, 148, 302. 
Hystricidae, 351. 


Ibacus, 274. 

Ichthyocephali, 106. 

Ichthyopterygia, 113, 116, raz. 

Ichthyornithidae, 124. 

Ichthyosaurus, 121. 

Ichthyotomi, too. 

Icichthys, 108. 

Icosteus, 108. 

Iguanidae, 73. 

Impact, 277, 284, 287, 291, 302, 305, 311, 
485. 

Impressed zone of the nautiloids, 405. 

Increase of size through use, 304. 

India, 159. 

Indo-Europeans, 153. 

Inexact parallelism, 200, 

Influence, of external stimulus on mo- 
tions of animals, 496; of the mental 
condition of the mother on the fo- 
tus, 434, 451; of mind on coloration, 
499; of mind on matter, 498. 

Infusoria, 79, 511. 

Inheritance, of acquired characters, 
401, 405; of characters due to dis- 
ease, 430; conditions of 438, 440, 
of exercise of function, 426; of mu- 


540 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


tilation and injuries, 399, 431; of 
nutrition, 423; of regional influ- 
ences, 435, 440. 

Insecta, 213, 226, 

Insectivora, 136, 140, 143, 305, 332, 336, 
361. 

Intelligence, animal, 500, 504. 

Introduction, 4. 

Ischyromys typus, Leidy, 351. 

Ismenia, 178, 179. 

Isolation, 387. 

Isospondyli, 103, 106. 


Jackson, R. T., 10, 191, 261, 520, 531. 

Jaeger, 10. , 

Japanese spaniel, 60, 

Java, 160. 

Java man, 169. 

Jayne, H. Dr., 60. 

Jordan, Dr., ror. 

Joseph, Dr., 242. 

Judgment, 504, 506. 

Juglans nigra, 466; J. regia, 466. 

Jura, 122, 139, 140, 142, 143, 184, 188, 
417, 418, 419, 420, 421. 


Katabolism, 481, 

Kinetobathmism, 485. 

Kinetogenesis, 225, 246, 287, 375, 496; 
in Mammalia, 288; in Mollusca, 
255; of muscle, 249; objections to 
the theory of, 375; of osseous tis- 
sue, 275; under impact and strain, 
519; under use in Vermes and Ar- 
thropoda, 268; in Vertebrata, 275. 

Kingsley, J. S., 89, 213. 

Koelliker, Dr., 285, 331, 377, 381. 

Kowalevsky, 323. 

Ktkenthal, 333. 


Lacerta muralis, 45, 195; L. m. albi- 
ventris, 46; L. m.cantpestris, 46; L, 
m, maculostriata, 46; L. m. punctu- 
latofasciata, 46; L. m. reticulata, 
46; L. mm, striatomaculata, 46; L.m. 
tigris, 46. 

Lacertilia, 88, 116, 120, 121, 122, 123, 
218, 314, 372. 

Lamarck, 2, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, 241, 387, 
497. 

Lamellibranchs, 261. 


Lankester, E. R., 71, 113. 

Laramie, 139. 

Larvacea, 215. 

Law of the unspecialized, 172. 

Law, Prof., 431. 

Lawrence, 426, 427. 

Laws of organic evolution, 3. 

Laws of structural relations, 19. 

Leidy, Professor, 351. 

Lemur collaris, 326. 

Lemuridae, 155, 328, 339, 356, 469. 

Lemuroids, 157. 

Lemurs, 61, 150, 154, 155, 156. 

Leperditia, 262. 

Lepidoptera, 203, 204, 237, 440, 441. 

Leporidae, 348. 

Leptodactylus pentadactylus, Laur., 
390. 

Lepus, 351, 361; L. sylvaticus, 53. 

Lernea branchialis, 212. 

Lernzapoda, 212. 

Lesshaft, 277. 

Litge, 160. 

Life, definition of, 513. 

Light effect, of, on flatfishes, 238. 

Lima, 266. 

Limbs, moulding of articulations of, 
287; vertebrate segmentation of, 367. 

Line of the pisces, 99. 

Lingula, 176, 177. 

Liocephalus, 391. 

Liopeplum, 260, 

List of papers by American authors 
on the law of kinetogenesis, 528. 

Litopterna, 357, 359. 

Lituites, 414 

Loeb, 455. 

Lohest, 160, 161, 165, 166, 168, 170. 

Lophiodontidae, 355. 

Lophobranchii, 105, 106. 

Louisiana, 50. 

Loup fork, 139, 148, 315. 

Lucius estor, 21; L. nobilior, 21; L. 
vermiculatus, 21. 

Lytoceratinae, 190. 


Macacus, 391. 
Machrauchenia, 359. 
Mackenzie River, 50. 
Magas, 178, 179. 
Magasella, 179, 


INDEX. 


Magellania, 178, 179. 

Magosphera, 102, 

Malacopterygia, 102, 103, 104. 

Mammalia, characters of, 93; line 
of the successional modifications of 

* the feet and digits of, 133; verte- 
brae of, 135; dentition of, 135; phy- 
logeny of, 138; origin of, 87; brain 
and nervous system of, 144. 

Man of Spy, 161. 

Maori, 168. 

Marey, 491. 

Marseniidae, 261. 

Marsh, 122, 123, 156, 174, 304. 

Marsipobranchs, 94, 95, 192, 193, 204. 

Marsupialia, 127, 132, 138, 142, 143, 
157; 305, 309, 336, 361, 374. 

Mastodonsaurus, 117. 

Maupas, 79, 459. 

Mead, T. H., 31. 

Mechanical, causes of dental modifi- 
cations, 319; conditions of segmen- 
tation in Arthropoda, 269; origin 
of characters in Pelecypoda, 261; 
origin of the impressed zone in 
Cephalopoda, 26r. 

Megerlina, 178, 179. 

Melanesians, 154. 

Meldola, Prof., 231, 234. 

Meleagris gallopavo, 21. 

Meniscoéssus conguistus, 325. 

Meniscotherium, 156. 

Menodontida, 355. 

Mental, evolution, 510; degeneracy, 
509; processes, 506. 

Menuridae, 126. 

Merospondyli, 106, 372. 

Merrifield, 230. 

Merychocherus montanus, 307. 

Mesohippus, 148. 

Mesonyx, 141, 302. 

Mesozoic age, 79, 116, 188, 413. 

Metabolism, 481. 

Metaplasis, 202. 

Metatoceras cavatiforme, 406; M. du- 
bium, 408. 

Metazoa, 252. 

Mexico, 29, 48, 49, 388. 

Michahelles, 242. 

Microsauria, 109, t1o. 

Miles, M., 481. 


541 


Milk-snake, 29. 

Mind, development of, 364; its rela- 
tion to matter, 507, 508. 

Mimetic analogy, 392. 

Mimoceras, 187, 421. 

Minot, C. S., 468. 

Miocene, 138, 139, 315. 

Mioclenus, 335. 

Mississippi, 57. 

Mitchell, Dr. C., 455. 

Mitra lineolata, 259. 

Mivart, 154. 

Mixophyes, 71. 

Mnemogenesis, 492. 

Modiola, 264. 

Molar teeth, of man, 61, 152; of Es- 
quimaux, 153; of Fan, 168; of man 
and woman of Spy, 166; of Maori, 
168 ; of Tahitian, 168. 

Moll, 277. 

Mollusca, 8, 80, 81, 82, 83, 172, 182, 213, 
229, 254, 261, 368, 388, 523, 524. 

Moloch, 72. 

Monkeys, intelligence of, 500; in 
Patagonia, 157. 

Monocondylia, 87, 372. 

Monodelphia, 132, 142, 144, 374. 

Monotremata, 88, 127, 132, 135, 138, 
140, 142, 143. 

Morphogeny from Gwynia to Dal- 
lina, 179. 

Morris, C., 363. 

Moschidae, 69. 

Moulding of the articulations in the 
Vertebrata, 287, 

Mousterien type, 170. 

Muhlfeldtia, 178, 179. 

Miller, Aug., 226, 383. 

Miller, Johannes, 213. 

Mulleria, 265, 267. 

Multituberculata, 135, 145, 318, 324, 
325, 329, 388. 

Muscle, kinetogenesis of, 239; striped, 
254. 

Mus decumanus, 403. 

Mustela americana, 50; M. pennant?, 
50. 

Mustelidae, 342. 

Mutations, 222. 

Mutilata, 143, 288, 290, 291, 374. 

Mutilations, 398, 431. 


542 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. 


Mya arenaria, 263, 265, 266. 
Mycetozoa, 219, 229. 

Myism, 484. 

Myrmecobius, 140. 
Myxomycetes, 75. 219, 501, 503. 


Nageli, 527, 528. 

Narwhale, 330. 

Natica, 213. 

Natural selection, 247, 385, 474. 

Nature of variations, 113, 115. 

Naulette, 161, 162, 163, 165. ° 

Nautili, 183, 184, 185, 186, 408, 413, 417, 
418, 419, 420, 421, 422. 

Nautilinidae, 421. 

Nautiloids, 405, 415, 421. 

Neanderthal man, 159, 161, 163, 165, 
169, 176. 

Necturus, 1173. 

Negritos, 163, 166, 169, 154. 

Negro, 159, 163. 

Nematocarpa filamentaria, 526. 

Nematognathi, 106. 

Neocaledonians, 163. 

Neocene, 143, 148. 

Neo-Darwinians, 381. 

Neo-Lamarckians, 255, 284, 375, 389, 
518, 

Neo-Lamarckism, 241, 518. 

Neolithic man, 166. 

Neothyris, 178. 

Nephryticeras, 415. 

Neurism, 484, 496. 

Neuroptera, 203. 

New Britain, 169. 

New England, 49, 52, 56, 437. 

New Granada, 29. 

Newton, 480. 

New York, 50, 402, 437. 

Nigritos, 154, 163, 166, 169. 

Normal articulations, 283. 

Norman horse, 423. 

North America, 10, 29, 47, 48, 53, 55, 
73, 115, 124. 

Nutrition, 423. 


Objections, to the doctrine of inheri- 
tance of acquired characters, 458 ; 
to kinetogenesis, 375; to the doc- 
trine of parallelism, 205. 

Obolella, 176, 


Odessa, 224. 

Ccology, v, 384. 

Cistridae, 102. 

Oliva, 260. 

Olivella, 260. 

Ononis repens, 227; O. spinosa, 227 
228. 

Ontogeny, 444. 

Odphyta, 77. 

Opheomorphus mimus, 29. 

Ophidia, 116, 120, 122, 218, 372. 

Ophidioceras, 414. 

Opinions of Neo-Lamarckians, 518. 

Opisthobranchs, 261. 

Opisthotome mastication, 318. 

Orbiculoidea, 177. 

Orconectes pellucidus, 241. 

Ordovician, 77, 83, 176. 

Origin, of the animal line, 514; of 
Batrachia, 89; of canine teeth, 327; 
of carnivorous dentition, 332; of the 
dental type of the Glires, 345; of 
divisions of the vertebrates, 362; of 
genera,9; of the plaits in the col- 
umnella of the gastropods, 255; of 
plants, 514; and survival of the fit- 
test, 4; of hereditary individual 
variation, 11. 

Ornithosauria, 114, 120, 121. 

Ornithostomi, 143. 

Orr, H. B., 531. 

Orthagoriscidae, 108. 

Orthal mastication, 318. 

Orthoceras, 185, 187, 408. 

Orthognathism, 248. 

Orthoptera, 203. 

Ortyx virginianus, 52. 

Osborn, H. F., 152, 320, 324, 337, 378, 
379) 444, 470, 520, 521, 530. 

Osceola doliata annulata, 30, 35, 39; 
O. d. clerica, 31, 33, 39; O. @. cocct 
nea, 30, 37,39; O. a. collaris, 31, 33, 
39; O. ad. conjuncta, 30, 39; O. a. 
doliata, 22, 29, 30, 33, 39; O. ad. gcn- 
tilis, 30, 37, 39; O. ad. parallela, 30, 
35,39; O. d. polyzona, 30, 37, 39; O. 
d. syspila, 30, 35, 39; O. a. tempora- 
tis, 31, 33. 39; O. d@. triangula, 31, 
33, 39. 

Osteocephalus, 198, 199. 

Osteolepididae, 91. 


INDEX. 


Ostraciontidae, 108. 

Ostracoda, 262. 

Ostrea, 261, 264, 265. 

Ostrea edulis, 262; O. virginiana, 264, 
Ostreidae, 267. 

Otariidae, 353, 390. 

Otaspis, 199. 

Owen, 150. 

Oyster, 266, 267. 


Pacific, 29, 51, 56. . 

Packard, 241, §21, §25, 530. 

Palzomeryx, 196. 

Palzoniscidae, 181. 

Palzospondylus, 99. 

Palzosyops, 377. 

Paleolithic, flints, 170; man, 169, 170; 
time, 160. . 

Paleozoic, 188, 226, 413, 415, 417. 

Palinal mastication, 318. 

Palingenesis, 200. 

Paludicola, 71. 

Pangenesis theory, of Brooks, 454; of 
Darwin, 450. 

Pantodonta, 141. 

Pantolambda, 141, 354. 

Pantotheria, 388. 

Pantylus, 117. 

Papilio demoleus, 231; P. nireus, 231. 

Papuans, 163. 

Paradise-birds, 391. 

Parallelism, 20, 175; in the Brachio- 
poda, 176; in the Cephalopoda, 182; 
inexact, 200; objections to doctrine 
of, 205; in the Vertebrata, 192. 

Parasitism, 211, 214, 509. 

Pariotichus, 117. 

Parisians, 163. 

Passeres, 124. 

Patagonia, 157. 

Paterina, 176. 

Paurodon, 343. 

Pavlow, M., 84. 

Pea-fowls, 391. 

Pecten, 254, 264, 265, 266. 

Pediculati, 106. 

Pegasus, 104. 

Pelecypoda, 261. 

Pelobatidae, 70. 

Pelodytidae, 70. 

Peltaphryne peltacephala D. & B., 68. 


543 


Pelycosauria, 87, 88, 120, 172. 

Pennsylvania, 49, 437- 

Pepper, Dr., 278. 

Percomorphi, 104, 106, 108. 

Perigenesis, 448, 454. 

Periptychus, 141, 156, 268, 

Perissodactyla, 133, 312, 313, 318, 355, 
3571 359, 360, 361, 390, 519. 

Permian, 87, 88, 98, 108, 110, 114, 115, 
I2I, 122, 172, 209, 218, 363. 

Perna, 264. 

Pernostrea, 267. 

Peropoda, 121. 

Perrier, E., 527. 

Phacochoerus, 328. 

Phanerogamia, 77, 79. 

Pharyngognathi, 106, 107, 108. 

Phenacodontidae, 147, 150. 

Phenacodus, 146, 147, 156, 157, 205, 
302. 

Phenacodus prim@evus, 130, 137; P. 
vortmanit, 134. 

Phillipine Islands, 166, 

Phocidae, 353. 

Phryniscidae, 70. 

Phrynocephalus, 73. 

Phrynosoma, 72. 

Phyllomedusa, 158. 

Phyllopod crustacea, 229. 

Phylogenetic scheme of the Mamma- 
lia, 127. 

Phylogeny, general, 74, 444; of ani- 
mals, 79; of the Batrachia, 108; of 
the birds, 123; of the classes, 83; of 
the fishes, 99; of the horse, 146; of 
the Mammalia, 126, 138; of man, 
150; of plants, 78; of the reptiles, 
113; of the Teleostomata, 1o1; of 
the Vertebrata, 83; of the Actino- 
pterygia, ror. 

Physarum leucopheum, 220. 

Physeteridae, 303. 

Physiobathmism, 485. 

Physiogenesis, 225, 227, 435. 

Physiology, ii, 479; of bone mould- 
ing, 285. 

Physoclysti, 104. 

Pickerel, 21. 

Pieris, 230; P. drassicae, 230; P. va- 
pae, 230. f 

Pigeon, 21. 


544 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


Pike, 21. 

Pilsbry, 260. 

Pinnotheres holothuriae, 242. 

Pipilo erythrophthalmus, 52. 

Pisces, 87, 95, 98, 192, 195. 

Plagiaulacidae, 324, 345. 

Plagiaulax, 142. 

Plant variation, 23. 

Plants, fossil, 77; evolution of, 515. 

Platidia, 178, 179. 

Platypus, 135. 

Plectognathi, 106, 107, 108. 

Plectospondyli, 106. 

Plesiosauria, 114, 121. 

Pleuracanthus, 372. 

Pleuronectidae, 238. 

Plicatula, 267. 

Pliny, 227. 

Pliocene, 387. 

Plistocene, 149, 168. 

Podopterygia, 100. 

Poébotheriidae, 302. 

Pollard, 89. 

Polygamy, 390. 

Polymastodon, 142. 

Polymastodontidae, 324. 

Polynesians, 154. 

Polyvedates, 68; P. guadrilineatus 

D. & B., 68. 

Polyprotodontia, 140, 143. 

Polypterus, 89. 

Polyzoa, 202. 

Porifera, 80, 81. 

Pouchet, 498. 

Poulton, E. B., 230, 237, 381, 392, 393, 
439, 449, 461. 

Pre-Carboniferous age, 421. 

Pressure, 286, 292, 295, 340, 405, 519. 

Principle of improvement, 527. 

Proal mastication, 318. 

Proboscidia, 128, 132, 133, 136, 141,144, 
297, 305, 306, 309, 318, 321, 329, 330, 
331, 332, 345, 360, 382, 519. 

Procolophonina, 87, 88. 

Procyonidae, 48. 

Production of colors in lepidopterous 
Ppupe, 230, 

Prognathism, 417. 

Proportions of limbs and of their seg- 
ments, 305. 

Prorastomus, 330. 


Protective colors, 392. 

Proteida, 109, 110, III. 

Proteles, 146. 

Proterotherium, 359. 

Proterotome mastication, 318. 

Proteus, 242. 

Prothallium, 455. 

Prothippus, 149, 359- 

Protodonta, 388. 

Protophyta, 75, 76, 77, 172. 

Protoplasm, composition of, 483. 

Prototheria, 88, 324, 360, 374. 

Protozoa, 75, 79, 81, 83, 172, 219, 249, 
252, 505. 

Protozoén, 459. 

Psalidodect mastication, 318. 

Pseudis, 71. 

Pseudosauria, 109. 

Pseudosuchia, 116. 

Psittacotherium, 329, 346, 351. 

Ptenophus garrulus Smith, 73. 

Pteridophyta, 77, 79. 

Pterosauria, 115. 

Ptilodus, 324. a 

Puerco, 139, 140, 141, 147, 150, 156, 403. 

Putorius ermineus, 50. 

Pygopodidae, 123. 

Pythonomorpha, 120. 

Pyxicephalus, 71. 


Quadrumana, 132, 133, 136, 143, 293, 
294, 306, 326, 332, 360, 361, 467. 

Quebec group, 413, 420. 

Quenstedt, 189. 

Quiscalus purpureus, 52. 


Rabl Rickard, 94. 

Raccoon pacing, 299. 

Rachitomi, 109, 110, 111, 372. 

Radiant energy, 484. 

Rana agilis Thomas, 68; R. catesbey- 
ana, 68; R. chrysoprasina, 68; R. 
clamata, 68; R, hexadactyla, 68; R. 
temporaria, 64. 

Ranidae, 65, 70, 71, 389. 

Raphanus raphanistrum L., 227; R. 
sativus L., 227. 

Recapitulation, 453, 492. 

Reduction of digits, 309. 

Regeneration, 455. 

Reptiles, degeneracy of the eye of 


INDEX. 


219; degeneracy of the limbs of, 
218; degeneracy in the skeletal 
structure of, 122; development of 
the brain of, 122; line of, 113; suc- 
cessive changes in the structure of 
the skull of, 116; vertebral articu- 
lation of, 121. 

Reptilia, 88, 94, 95, 98, 110, 114, 116, 
120, 122, 132, 172, 193, 195, 209, 218, 
289, 303, 304, 363, 365, 366, 374, 388. 

Retardation, 9, 201. 

Retrogressive evolution in the Verte- 
brata, 145. 

Reyher, 277. 

Rhinoceros, 313. 314. 

Rhinocerus unicornis, 300. 

Rhipidopterygia, 91, 100, 101, 172, 366. 

Rhizopoda, 249. 

Rhynchocephalia, 144, 116. 

Rhynchocyonidae, 305. 

Rhytina, 331. 

Riley, C. V., 531. 

Rodentia, 135, 519. 

Romanes, Vi, 471. 

Rése, 333. 

Roux, W., 283, 284. 

Rusa, 196. 

Ryder, J. A., 79, 309, 311, 319, 320, 321, 
323, 346, 349, 366, 404, 455, 485, 486, 
518, 519, 520, 521, 529, 530, 531, 532. 


Salamandra, 199. 

Salientia, 109, 110, 172, 196, 197. 
Sandberger, 188. 

San Diego, 244. 

Sarcothraustes, 335. 

Saturnia, 466. 

Saturniidae, 203. 

Sauermann, Dr., 239, 240. 
Sauropterygia, 115, 116. 
Sauvage, Dr., 372. 
Scaphiopidae, 65. 

Scaphiopus holbrookii, 68. 
Scaridae, 108. 

Schismaderma carens Smith, 68. 
Schizocrania, 177. 
Schmankewitsch, V., 230. 
Schools of evolutionary doctrine, 13. 
Schuchert, 191. 

Scincidae, 123. 

Sciuridae, 351. 


545 


Scombridae, 108. 

Scott, W. B., 222, 334, 526, 531, 532. 

Scudder, S., 465. 

Scyphophori, 106. 

Scytopis, 198, 199. 

Sectorial teeth, 139. 

Sedgwick, 492. 

Seeley, 88, 120, 123. 

Segmentation of the external skele- 
ton of the Arthropoda, 269; origin 
of, 368. 

Segmentation of the vertebral col- 
umn, 368; origin of, 368. 

Selenodont dentition, 320; origin of, 
323. 

Self-consciousness, 495. 

Semper, 228, 242, 527. 

Sense perception, 495. 

Sensation, 495, 513. 

Serranidae, 108, 

Sex, 516. 

Sexual selection, 389. 

Sharp, B., 269, 531. 

Shetland pony, 423. 

Shipka, 161, 163. 

Shoulder girdles of Anura, 64. 

Sigaretus, 261. 

Siluric, 77, 83, 183, 185, 186, 187, 413, 
414. 

Siluridae, 103. 

Simia, 159, 170. 

Simiidae, 157, 158. 

Siphocyprea problematica, 260. 

Siredon lichenoides,' 200; S. mexica- 


num, 59. 
Sirenia, 127, 142, 143, 145, 329, 330, 352, 
360. 


Skull, of man of Spy, 161 ; of Neander- 
thal man, 162. 

Smilodon neog@us, 344. 

Solenhofen slates, 123. 

Sonoran, 29. 

South America, 50, 154. 

Sioths, 305. 

Spain, 437. 

Spea h ait inter: tana, 68. 

Spencer, H., 5, 6, 7, 175, 367; 385, 466, 
476, 517, 518, 527. 

Sphenodon, 121. 

Spinous plants, 228. 

Spondylus, 267. 


546 PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION, 


Sponges, 80. 

Sports, influence of, 24 

Spy, 159, 161, 163, 164, 165, 166, 169, 
170. 

Squamata, 114, 115, 116. 

Squillidae, 273. 

Stahl, E., 501. 

Starch, 481. 

Statogenesis, 485, 496. 

Stegocephali, 88, 109, 172. 

Stegophilus, 103. 

Stentor, 250. 

Stereognathus, 325. 

Stevenson, C., 432. 

Strain, 305, 311, 313, 319, 326, 327, 349, 
281, 485, 519, 521. 

Strepsiptera, 213. 

Streptostylica, 114. 

Sturnella magna, 52. 

Stypolophus, 335. 

Stypolophus whitia, 339. 

Successional relation, 19, 62. 

Suidae, 69. 

Suoidea, 318, 324. 

Sus, 330. 

Symphysis mandibuli of a, chimpan- 
zee, 164; gorilla, 164; liegois, 166; 
orang, 164; Parisian, 166; Spy man, 
164; Spy woman, 164. 

Synagodus, 59. 

Synapta digitata, 213. 

Systems of evolution, 13. 


Table of the characters of the mam- 
malian skeleton, 139. 

Tachyglossus, 135. 

Teker, 195. 

Tahitian, 168. 

Tapir, 313. 

Tapiridae, 318. 

Tarsipes, 146. 

Tarsius, 155, 306. 

Taxeopoda, 128, 136, 146, 297, 357; Car- 
pus of, 

Taxidea americana, 50. 

Teeth, evolution of, 318, 522. 

Teidae, 123. 

Teleology, 20. 

Teleostomata, 91, 99, 100, 101, 336. 

Tellkampf, Dr., 241. 


Terebratellidae, 178, 179, 180. 

Termites, 500. 

Tertiary, 184, 291, 421. 

Testudinata, 114, 115, 116, 119, 123. 

Texas, 50, 436. 

Theory of internal causes, 527. 

Theory of use and disuse, 3. 

Theriodonta, 115, 116. 

Thermochemistry, 483. 

Theromora, 88, 114, 115, 116, 120, 121, 
132. 

Thoatherium, 359. 

Thoraceras, 186. 

Thoropa miliaris Sphix, 68. 

Thylacinus cynocephalus, 22. 

Tillodonta, 140, 143, 145, 329, 360. 

Tomes, 381. 

Tomitherium rostratum Cope, 156. 

Topinard, P., 153, 155, 157, 168, 165. 

Tornier, E., 283, 284, 528. 

Tortoises, 114. 

Tortricidae, 123. 

Toxodontia, 128, 143, 297. 330, 360, 382. 

Trachycephalus, 198. 

Trachypteridae, 108. 

Trachystomata, 109, III. 

Tragulidae, 69. 

Traquair, 99. 

Trias, 108, 113, 135, 184, 209, 325, 417 

Triboloceras, 186. 

Trichea varia, 220. 

Triconodon Owen, 343. 

Triconodontidae, 318. 

Trichophanes, 104. 

Tridacna, 265. 

Trilobita, 83. 

Trimen, R., 231. 

Trinil, man of, 159, 168, 169, 170. 

Trionychidae, 303. 

Tripteroceras, 186. 

Tristichopteridae, 91. 

Trityloden, 325. 

Trivia, 260. 

Trotting horses, 426. 

Troglocaris, 242. 

Tubularia mesembryanthemum, 456, 

Tunicata, 172, 214, 218, 362. 

Turbot, 499. 

Tyndall, Prof., 476. 

Typhlogeophis, 123. 

Typhlogobius, 244. 


INDEX. 


Unconsciousness, 494, 507. 

Uinta, 147. 

Uintatherium, 354. 

Uintatheriidae, 318. 

Uma, 73. 

Unguiculata, 140, 143, 374. 

Ungulata, 138, 140, 142, 143, 147, 205, 
248, 295, 297, 302, 321, 330, 340, 353, 
355» 357, 361, 374, 390; Origin of, 209. 

Unionidae, 203. 

United States, 49, 53, 315. 

Urochorda, 82. 

Urodela, 109, 110, 172. 

Uropeltidae, 123. 

Uroplates, 88. 

Ursus arctos, 21,22; U. maritimus, 21. 

Unspecialized, doctrine of, 173. 

Use and disuse, doctrine of, 9. 


Vandellia, 103. 

Vanessa 20, 232; V. urticae, 232. 

Variation, 21. 

Variation, of basal lobes of leaves, 
5; causes of, 225; in cicindela, 25; 
cnemidophorus, 41; embryogenic, 
444; fortuitous, 444; gamogenic, 
444; geographical, 47; gonagenic, 
444; in North American birds and 
mammals, 45; origin of, 225, 497; 
ontogenetic, 444; in Osceola dolzata, 
29; phylogenetic, 444. 

Variations, of specific characters, 25 ; 
somatogenic, 444; structural char- 
acter, 58. 

Varigny, 229. 

Vermes, 80, 81, 82, 83, 172, 263, 268, 
368, 437. 

Vertebral centra, forms of, 302. 

Vertebrata, brain and nervous sys- 


tem of, 94, 139; classification of, 


547 


93; Circulating system of, 93, 192; 
origin of, 81; phylogeny of, 81. 

Vestinautilus, 186. 

Vilmorin, 228. 

Virchow, Prof., 159. 169, 467. 

Visé, 416. 

Vola, 266. 

Volutidae, 260. 

Volutimorpha, 260. 

Volvox, 79. 

Vom Rath, 470, 4713. 

Von Baer, 175. 

Von Brunn, 403. 

Vulpes alopex, 48; V. cinereoargenta- 
tus, 48; V. lagopus, 48; V. velox, 48. 


Wallace, A. R., 3, 5, 228, 381, 383, 387, 
392, 392, 466. 

Ward, L., 531. 

Wasatch, 139, 146. 

Weale, M., 231. 

Weismann, 10, II, 12, 23, 203, 399, 424 
438, 450, 458, 459, 480. 

West Indies, 387. 

White River, 139. 

Wiedersheim, 366. 

Wilson, E. B., 457, 487. 

‘Wood, T. W., 230, 231, 233, 234- 

Woodward, A. S., 372. 

Wortman, 293, 402, 520. 

Wundt, 498. 

Wiirtenburger, 189. 191. 


Yucatan, 49. 


Zeller, 242, 243. 
Zenedura macrura, 52. 
Zeuglodon, 304. 

Zittel, Dr., 370. 
Zittelloceras, 186, 
Zygophyta, 77. 


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