The Whence and the Whither of Man A Brief History of His Origin and Development through Conformity to Environment; Being the Morse Lectures of 1895   By: John Mason Tyler (1851-1929)

A Brief History of His Origin and Development through Conformity to Environment

Being the Morse Lectures of 1895

by

JOHN M. TYLER Professor of Biology, Amherst College

New York Charles Scribner's Sons

1896

Morse Lectures

1893 THE PLACE OF CHRIST IN MODERN THEOLOGY. By Rev. A.M. Fairbairn, D.D. 8vo, $2.50

1894 THE RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. By Rev. William Elliot Griffis, D.D. 12mo, $2.00.

1895 THE WHENCE AND THE WHITHER OF MAN. By Professor John M. Tyler. 12mo, $1.75.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM: THE MODE OF ITS SOLUTION

The question. The two theories of man's origin. The argument purely historical. Means of tracing man's ancestry and history. Classification. Ontogenesis and Phylogenesis.

CHAPTER II

PROTOZOA TO WORMS: CELLS, TISSUES, AND ORGANS

Amoeba: Its anatomy and physiology. Development of the cell. Hydra: The development of digestive and reproductive organs, and of tissues. Forms intermediate between amoeba and hydra: Magosphæra, volvox. Embryonic development. Turbellaria: Appearance of a body wall, of ganglion, and nerve cords.

CHAPTER III

WORMS TO VERTEBRATES: SKELETON AND HEAD

Worms and the development of organs. Mollusks: The external protective skeleton leads to degeneration or stagnation. Annelids and arthropods: The external locomotive skeleton leads to temporary rapid advance, but fails of the goal. Its disadvantages. Vertebrates: The internal locomotive skeleton leads to backbone and brain. Reasons for their dominance. The primitive vertebrate.

CHAPTER IV

VERTEBRATES: BACKBONE AND BRAIN

The advance of vertebrates from fish through amphibia and reptiles to mammals. The development of skeleton, appendages, circulatory and respiratory systems, and brain. Mammals: The oviparous monotremata. Marsupials. Placental mammals. Development of the placenta. Primates. Arboreal life and the development of the hand. Comparison of man with the highest apes. Recapitulation of the history of man's origin and development. The sequence of dominant functions.

CHAPTER V

THE HISTORY OF MENTAL DEVELOPMENT AND ITS SEQUENCE OF FUNCTIONS

Mode of investigation. Intellect. Sense perceptions. Association. Inference and understanding. Rational intelligence. Modes of mental or nervous action. Reflex action, unconscious and comparatively mechanical. Instinctive action: The actor is conscious, but guided by heredity. Intelligent action. The actor is conscious, guided by intelligence resulting from experience or observation. The will stimulated by motives. Appetites. Fear and other prudential considerations. Care for young and love of mates. The dawn of unselfishness. Motives furnished by the rational intelligence: Truth, right, duty. Recapitulation: The will, stimulated by ever higher motives, is finally to be dominated by unselfishness and love of truth and righteousness. These rouse the only inappeasable hunger, and are capable of indefinite development. Strength of these motives. Their complete dominance the goal of human development.

CHAPTER VI

NATURAL SELECTION AND ENVIRONMENT