Page:Divine Selection or The Survival of the Useful.djvu/64



T IS well known that the vibrisæ or whiskers of the cat, which terminate in sacs about which nerve fibers cluster, serve as delicate organs of touch.

Embryology tells us that cat-whiskers are merely specialized forms of hair, like that on mammals, and which, in germinal form, are found upon man imbedded in the skin.

It is claimed that the eye and ear are developed from the same vibrisæ.

We are told that in the process of evolution, while the differentiations of dermal tissue formed scales, feathers, and hair, some differentiations went toward the production of eyes and ears. Then the bulb of the eye and the auditory chamber of the ear were, to start