Only in the third round did they begin to bear any kind of resemblance to
man as we know him today. The very methods of reproduction of those
primitive forms differed from those of humanity today, and far more
resembled those which we now find only in very much lower types of life.
Man in those early days was androgynous, and a definite separation into
sexes took place only about the middle of the third round. From that time
onward until now the shape of man has been steadily evolving along
definitely human lines, becoming smaller and more compact than it was,
learning to stand upright instead of stooping and crawling, and generally
differentiating itself from the animal forms out of which it had been
evolved.

One curious break in the regularity of this evolution deserves mention. On
this globe, in this fourth round, there was a departure from the
straightforward scheme of evolution. This being the middle globe of a
middle round, the midmost point of evolution upon it marked the last moment
at which it was possible for members of what had been the lunar animal
kingdom to attain individualization. Consequently a sort of strong effort
was made--a special scheme was arranged to give a final chance to as many
as possible. The conditions of the first and second rounds were specially
reproduced in place of the first and second races--conditions of which in
the earlier rounds these backward egos had not been able fully to take
advantage. Now, with the additional evolution, which they had undergone
during the third round, some of them were able to take such advantage, and
so they rushed in at the very last moment before the door was shut, and
became just human. Naturally they will not reach any high level of human
development, but at least when they try again in some future chain it will
be some advantage to them to have had even this slight experience of human
life.

Our terrestrial evolution received a most valuable stimulus from the
assistance given to us by our sister globe, Venus. Venus is at present in
the fifth incarnation of its chain, and in the seventh round of that
incarnation, so that its inhabitants are a whole chain-period and a half in
front of us in evolution. Since, therefore, its people are so much more
developed than ours, it was thought desirable that certain Adepts from the
Venus evolution should be transferred to our Earth in order to assist in
the specially busy time just before the closing of the do