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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78733 ***
+
+
+
+
+  THE MASTER OF DESTINY
+
+
+
+
+  BOOKS BY
+  FREDERICK TILNEY
+
+  THE BRAIN FROM APE TO MAN
+
+  IN COLLABORATION WITH
+  HENRY ALSOP RILEY
+
+  THE FORM AND FUNCTIONS OF THE
+  CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
+
+
+
+
+  THE MASTER OF DESTINY
+
+  A BIOGRAPHY
+  OF THE BRAIN
+
+  BY FREDERICK
+  TILNEY, M.D.
+
+  WITH A FOREWORD
+  BY AUSTEN FOX
+  RIGGS, M.D.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  DOUBLEDAY, DORAN & COMPANY, INC.
+  GARDEN CITY      MCMXXX      NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1929, 1930
+  BY FREDERICK TILNEY
+  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
+  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES AT
+  THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS
+  GARDEN CITY, N. Y.
+
+  FIRST EDITION
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+Race after race of man has appeared on this earth, lasted but a short
+span of time, and then met disaster and extinction. Our modern race is
+of this series. We have reason to believe that it differs in quality
+from its forerunners chiefly in its cerebral endowment. That its
+progress from animalhood to civilization is due to this endowment, is
+not questioned, for its victory over environment, its ascendency over
+all other animals is plainly due to its superior brain power.
+
+How did this race originate? Like all the other races preceding it? Or
+by some aberrant, instantaneous freak of creation? How did it acquire
+its characteristic brain? As the bird its wings, as the elephant its
+trunk, as the camel its hump, or by a divine act of separate and
+special creation? Those who maintain the quarrel over man’s origin are
+not those who have familiarized themselves with the history of the
+world and its creatures; they are not the astronomers, the geologists,
+the biologists, the anthropologists or the archeologists. They are
+clearly those who prefer believing to thinking, the traditionalists,
+good men mayhap but not necessarily wise. In the earlier days of
+science (it is only four or five hundred years old), its devoted
+labourers were persecuted by Church and State. They had to give
+respectful attention to criticism or else perish by fire and sword.
+But, as we have advanced slowly from religious persecution and the
+auto-da-fé to mere intolerant and wordy remonstrance, the scientist
+has paid but scant attention to these quarrels. He feels that as they
+are not of his making, neither are they his concern. Perhaps he is
+not quite right there. To be sure, he is criticized, not wisely but
+too well, and for the most part not quite fairly. We have criticized
+him for an assumed lack of reverence, but even more for his obvious
+indifference to our criticism. This has justice in it for, though his
+indifference to criticism may be excused, the ignorance upon which
+this criticism is founded should be his first concern, for the man
+of science is the teacher and ignorance is his very opportunity.
+Heretofore, however, he has seen his opportunity too narrowly, for he
+has been content to teach only the few embryo scientists apprenticed to
+his own particular field. He has not, until very lately, realized that
+his hard-won knowledge is far more needed and therefore far more owed
+to those who are most ignorant of it, in short, to the great mass of
+men and women outside the scientific world.
+
+“You are irreligious,” said his critics. “You have been weighed
+and found wanting in that devotional attitude we find essential to
+humanity. You do not even listen to our reproaches. You are irreverent!”
+
+For the most part, there has been no answer. The men of science have
+been strangely preoccupied with their own business of finding out
+all they can of their fellow man, of his nature, his origin, his
+difficulties, his dangers, and of his predictable future, all in the
+faith that such knowledge will ultimately benefit mankind.
+
+Now at length one of them has made rejoinder to these protests.
+He admits that he has been preoccupied, especially so in the past
+twenty years, with laborious but fascinating research into just these
+questions so vitally concerning his fellow man. He admits that he had
+not thought his scientific gleanings would interest any but scientists,
+but he denies irreverence and insists that neither he nor any other
+who spends his life in studying man and his place in nature could lack
+reverence. He cannot find himself entirely in accord with any of the
+eleven surviving religions which guide the lives of many men to-day.
+The twelve extinct religions of the past also leave him unsatisfied.
+Nevertheless he worships devoutly, though in a temple transcending in
+significance and beauty any wrought by the hand of man. His devotion is
+no mere lip service expressive of the self-protective instinct, but one
+that takes form in labour. In spite of disappointment and hardship, he
+has persevered through years in that labour, with the single object of
+gaining a deeper understanding of man and his place in nature.
+
+It is now our turn to admit error and ask if we may not share in the
+fruits of his research--even though our understanding has thus far been
+alien to his field of labour, even though our path has not led us to
+his temple, even though we have not been aware of his devotion. We
+urge him to speak to us, not as to scientists, but as to his fellow
+creatures, fellow citizens and fellow sufferers. We urge him to speak
+to us plainly, believing that whatsoever has value in human knowledge
+may be simply told.
+
+With some hesitation he has consented. He has chosen to speak to us
+of the brain, as the most direct approach to the comprehension of the
+nature of man. He points out that this master organ of life holds the
+secret of human success, that its function is human progress, its
+neglect human disaster.
+
+The immensity of the retrospect of his story will create in us the
+wholesome effect called humility. The prospect he pictures is fraught
+with the terror of what may happen, but it also holds forth inspiration
+to courage and is golden with hope. No man can follow this account
+without being inspired by a vision of the dawning of a new era of
+progress, not an era of greater possessions but of better use of those
+already possessed; of better relations between peoples and races; and
+being sobered by a realization that this hope lies in developing still
+further the efficiency of the master organ of destiny, through training
+and education.
+
+The scientist speaks. He tells what he has seen and heard and read
+through the long pilgrimage of years, searching for the truth, and
+he gives us the fruit of these labours, simply and accurately. But
+scientific accuracy and matters of fact are only his raw material. They
+are woven into the fabric of a true story, vibrant with adventure,
+warmed by the love and reverence of the humanitarian, and illumined by
+the prophetic imagination of a poet.
+
+This tale of man’s emergence is fascinating, inspiring, stimulating,
+but when it brings us to the climax of the present it becomes a
+challenge. We are faced by an awful question. Shall the glorious race
+of modern man sink into oblivion, as all the preceding races have sunk,
+or may he save himself from chaotic ruin? If he is to be spared for
+further progress to greater heights of happiness, he must take heed
+of his own history, he must value his forebrain as his master organ
+and set himself diligently to develop its powers more fully than ever
+before. To this end he must discard the last bit of fundamentalism,
+and the false security of all superstition; he must learn to depend
+courageously on his own power to understand and control himself; he
+must give up superhuman sanctions for evils that his intelligence has
+long since discarded. Knowledge must replace superstition--else the
+embattled hosts of the world will again be at their bloody work of
+extinction, praying to the same god, using the same old prayers. It is
+only by increasing the scope of his forebrain through self-knowledge,
+training, and education that man can save himself from the old pitfalls
+from which neither the old nor the new religions have heretofore saved
+him. It is only thus, through understanding, that he can ever hope
+to make full use of the forces of growth and change which we call
+evolution. But our scientist gives us reason to hope that through
+intelligence, itself a product of evolution, man may yet not only
+escape destruction by these forces but may even go far toward gaining
+a mastery over them which will insure the progress of his race toward
+planes of usefulness and happiness as yet undreamed of.
+
+It is indeed time that we think of ourselves as men in the making
+and cease to consider ourselves as gods and the lords of a finished
+creation.
+
+                                                       AUSTEN FOX RIGGS.
+
+  Stockbridge, Massachusetts,
+  October, 1929.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                                PAGE
+
+        FOREWORD                                                   v
+
+  CHAPTER
+
+     I. PRIMITIVE ANCESTORS                                        1
+        Origin and Early Days of the Brain
+
+    II. ANCESTORS BEFORE THE APES                                 24
+        The Brain from Fish to Man
+
+   III. MAN IN THE MAKING                                         51
+        Human Progress from Prehistoric to Modern Times
+
+    IV. EDEN OR EVOLUTION                                         85
+        Genesis and the Origin of Species
+
+     V. BIRTHPLACE AND EARLY BEGINNINGS OF MAN                   107
+        Influences of Forest and Plain on Brain Development
+
+    VI. DAWN OF THE PRIMATE BRAIN                                129
+        The Lowest of the Monkey Kind
+
+   VII. ON THE WAY UPWARD                                        152
+        Brains of the Old World Monkeys
+
+  VIII. MANLIKE TENDENCIES                                       168
+        Brains of Gibbon and Orang-Outang
+
+    IX. HUMAN IN MINIATURE                                       186
+        The Brain of the Chimpanzee
+
+     X. ALMOST HUMAN                                             212
+        The Brain of the Gorilla
+
+    XI. HUMAN AT LAST                                            239
+        The Brain of Prehistoric Man
+
+   XII. IMPLEMENTS OF HUMAN SUCCESS                              267
+        How the Hand, Foot, and Brain Led the Way to Humanity
+
+  XIII. ESTIMATES AND VALUES                                     301
+        Assets and Liabilities of the Human Brain
+
+   XIV. THE FINAL TEST OF THE BRAIN                              330
+        World Coöperation and Recivilization
+
+
+
+
+THE MASTER OF DESTINY
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+PRIMITIVE ANCESTORS
+
+ORIGIN AND EARLY DAYS OF THE BRAIN
+
+
+Since every well-arranged biography should start at the beginning, we
+may first inquire into the origin of the brain. The early history of
+such an important organ must be closely interwoven with the genesis of
+man. If man were the result of a separate creative miracle, so also was
+his brain.
+
+But we are not obliged to accept this view which attributes the
+universe and all living things to creative miracles. There is another
+and equally reasonable possibility. We may, for example, assume that
+man and all else came into existence by that process of continuous
+change and progressive development called evolution. We have excellent
+grounds for accepting such an assumption. Astronomy, geology, biology,
+chemistry, and all of the sciences relating to mankind have revealed
+the essential facts. Any other interpretation must disregard or
+repudiate this convincing record. With such a record as this to guide
+us we may turn our attention to the origin of the brain.
+
+
+_Earliest Forms of Animal Life_
+
+The inception of life on our planet was simple in the extreme. The
+earliest animals, although well organized, possessed no special organs
+in the strict sense. In the beginning there was nothing which could be
+specifically called a stomach or a heart, a lung or a kidney. Certainly
+there was nothing even remotely resembling a brain. The business of
+living was transacted within a single cell. This cell was so small
+that it could not be seen by the naked eye. Each of these cells was
+sufficient unto itself. Each played its own separate part with a simple
+programme of existence. Each was required to get its own food, to carry
+on its own chemical activities of digestion and elimination. Finally,
+after it had been successful in this remarkable process, it was called
+upon to produce offspring, to perpetuate its species. This last act
+was the crown and climax of its life, for in this way it conferred a
+material immortality upon its kind.
+
+The amœba, among living animals, is a good example of this simple
+life. It is wholly intent upon carrying on within itself the earliest
+traditions of existence. All of its life is conducted within a
+single microscopic cell, which is at once its office and workshop.
+It has nothing in its make-up that could in the ordinary sense be
+called an organ. In such amœban animals as these there seems to be
+nothing progressive, nothing to suggest the possibilities of further
+advancement. Each amœba might, if such a thing were possible, look back
+over a long line of ancestors exactly like itself. In looking forward
+it might see no great possibility of progress. Perhaps it might reach
+the more specialized conditions of its present-day relatives with
+contractile threads in their substance and vibrating hairs by which to
+move themselves about. At best the outlook of the amœba for progress
+was restricted within very narrow limits.
+
+
+_Familiar Animals of Earliest Type_
+
+Certain events in the long history of these little animals have
+acquired much human interest. At times some of these simple lives
+become strikingly dramatic. Their monotonous existence is changed
+and they pass through certain exciting phases. Such a drama is often
+enacted when certain amœbæ gain entrance into the body of another
+animal and there become parasites. The other animal may be some
+huge beast or even man himself. One unpretentious amœba (_Amœba
+histolytica_), if it gains entrance into the intestinal tract of man,
+may cause amœbic dysentery and abscess of the liver. Another single
+cell animal (_Trypanosome Gambiense_) living in the blood of certain
+cattle is often conveyed by the tsetse fly to human blood where it
+produces the fatal disease known as “African sleeping sickness.”
+This small animal claims hundreds of thousands of victims a year. In
+tropical Africa its devastations go on unchecked over an area of more
+than a million square miles. In this region sleeping sickness kills
+as many persons as all other diseases combined. From five to seventy
+per cent. of the inhabitants in different localities are stricken.
+Cattle, horses, and other domestic animals cannot be kept because of
+this disease. On this account, and also because the area in which
+the sickness rages is extremely fertile, it has been said that the
+conquering of this malignant protozoan would be equivalent to the
+discovery of a new continent.
+
+Even better known are the several acts in the cycle of the _plasmodium
+malaria_. This protozoan animal is often borne by the Anopheles
+mosquito and injected into the blood of man. Then follows the familiar
+series of pathological events consisting of chill, fever, and sweat,
+called malaria. In certain respects it seems like retributive justice
+when this animal is injected into the body of man to cure the effects
+produced by another microörganism. The other organism is the spirochæte
+which causes syphilis. It often produces changes which destroy the
+human brain in consequence of a disease known as paresis. Many other
+protozoan animals are parasites, but in the main they live and have
+lived simple, unobtrusive lives.
+
+Notwithstanding their apparent simplicity of structure and action,
+these minute animals, like all other things, have been subject to
+the influence of continuous change. They have responded to this
+influence in different ways. In many instances, through generations of
+reproduction, they have effected combinations and recombinations of
+their essential constituents out of which have emerged modifications of
+their original structure. Often these changes have proved progressive
+and contributed to more complex modes of living. Often they have been
+regressive or non-progressive. It was the progressive modifications in
+these earliest animals that were of utmost importance to the origin of
+the brain. This organ was not yet in sight, but adaptations working
+toward it were soon to appear.
+
+
+_Critical Changes in Animal Existence_
+
+In the course of time certain critical changes took place in the
+lowly scheme of animal existence. These were distinctly progressive
+changes. Some of the single-cell animals began to live in colonies.
+Circumstances thus conferred upon them a community life. They began to
+exist in close contact with others like themselves and were compelled
+to forego their simple, independent habits. They were, in fact,
+actually joined to each other by rather slender bonds of their own
+vital substance--protoplasm. This was an epochal stride forward. It
+was the first step which led to progress. In some instances it brought
+about entirely new relations between these animals and the world in
+which they lived. Now, since these small cells were grouped together as
+colonies, each individual cell lost much of its own independence. Its
+interests became, in some degree at least, the interests of the group.
+If, as a single cell by itself, it had been thoroughly self-contained,
+now it was necessary for it to follow the needs and inclinations of
+its neighbours. It was forced to observe the conventions and habits
+of its colony. This condition of affairs exists in what are known as
+the colonized protozoans. In addition to the advantages of community
+life there was another and far more important reason why this new kind
+of existence was a critical step. It introduced for the first time
+the principle of differentiation or class distinction. A division of
+labour was thus made possible. Some of the cells in each group were
+forced to take up positions on the outer surface of the colony. Others
+occupied places inside of the group. This arrangement immediately
+created a distinction between “outer cells” and “inner cells.” It was
+destined to have far-reaching consequences because it established a
+difference in the responsibilities of two great classes. The outer
+cells made an immediate and direct contact with the world. They were
+nearest to the water, to the light, and to all of the outer chemical
+substances necessary for living. They were like guards and outposts
+about a camp, defending the colony from adverse influences. They might
+be likened to the first line of battle in the aggressive struggles for
+life, acting as foragers and procurers of food. The rôle of the inner
+cells was different. Their contacts with the world were more indirect
+and established largely through the outer cells. Their offices were
+especially confined to the inner workings of the colony. They became
+the germ cells whose function it was to insure the immortality of the
+species. This arrangement was a momentous advance in the direction of
+progress. It was particularly momentous because it laid the foundations
+upon which all of the great developments in the animal world were to
+be built. In a certain way, it was also a prophecy, for it foretold
+the coming of animals that were to follow the protozoans. These
+newcomers, the metazoans (animals which came after the first forms of
+animal life), were to possess a body with outer cells engaged chiefly
+in the efforts of life, while the inner cells would be particularly
+concerned with the essence of living, such, for example, as digestion,
+assimilation, and circulation.
+
+This remarkable process of class distinction among cells developed new
+and useful methods in living. It brought about a division of labour in
+the business of life. Different parts of the animal now had different
+obligations to fulfil. Some parts served to move the body about, some
+were employed in digesting food, some in eliminating waste, some in
+breathing and circulation, some in reproduction. In the end, this
+division of labour resulted in the formation of a body made up of many
+different organs, each having its own particular responsibilities.
+We may find an excellent example of the very earliest stages of this
+division of labour in Volvox, one of the colony-forming protozoans.
+Most of the colonized cells of this minute animal are on the outside,
+forming a hollow sphere. These cells are equipped with minute hairs
+or flagellæ which, by their constant motion, keep the animal rolling
+around in the water like a hollow rubber ball. In this manner it seeks
+and finds its food, and thus also it may escape when threatened. But
+all of the cells of Volvox are not on the outside. A number of them are
+tucked away from the actual surface of the animal. These are the sex
+cells to which is entrusted the important duty of reproduction.
+
+
+_Early Influences at Work to Form the Brain_
+
+Even by this time in the history of the earth, although animal life had
+been developing for millions of years, there was no sign of anything
+like a brain. The forces, however, which would eventually bring such
+an organ into existence were already at work. Perhaps from this great
+distance it may be difficult to recognize the exact nature of these
+forces as they began to act at this particular stage of life. They were
+present nevertheless, faintly discernible like the first streaks of
+dawn which precede the sunrise. This figure of speech may seem to imply
+that in the end the brain was the actual sun destined to rise above
+the horizon of animal life and ultimately to dominate all progressive
+achievement. The rest of this biography must prove whether this is an
+extravagant figure or not. One important influence behind those forces
+that eventually produced the brain stands out clearly. It seems to have
+been the direct result of that class distinction among cells which
+caused such effectual division of labour. With this subtle influence at
+work it required one further critical step to set in motion the events
+which were to end in the formation of a brain. This step was taken
+when the sponges (_Poriphara_), the simplest of metazoan animals, came
+into existence. They differed from the protozoans, even the colonized
+protozoans, because their bodies were more complexly organized.
+The individual cells forming them had lost most of their separate
+independence. All of these cells were now incorporated in a single
+living individual, and each cell was subordinate to the interests of
+the whole.
+
+Cell distinction had become still more important because of the
+increase in size of these animals. The outer cells now formed a
+covering or skin called the “ectoderm.” The inner cells constituted
+the wall of a cavity, which might be likened to the lining of the
+stomach. The lining is called the “entoderm.” Many minute openings
+or pores in the outer covering established communication by means of
+small canals with the inner cavity of the animal. Through these pores
+water is inhaled and carries with it particles of food into the inner
+chambers. These particles are absorbed, and the water is then exhaled
+through a larger opening called the “osculum.”
+
+It was at this critical point that a decisive factor leading to the
+formation of the brain made its appearance. Some of the deep cells
+around the pores and outlets of the sponge formed “muscles.” In many
+respects this was a new device, and the sponges become especially
+interesting because of this innovation in animal life. The innovation
+itself resulted in a special machine for producing motion; namely, the
+muscle cell. Such muscle cells in the sponge are extremely simple. They
+form rings around the pores and the outlets which, by contracting,
+regulate the flow of water through the animal. But such muscle action
+as this is extremely important because if the water in the sponge
+contains an abundance of food particles, muscular contraction prevents
+too rapid outflow. This slowing of the ex-current stream, among other
+things, allows more time for absorption and digestion. The muscles in
+different parts of the sponge act independently. Each one is, so to
+speak, a free agent, occupying its position at its own particular pore
+or outlet. If, however, it became necessary for all of these muscles
+to contract at the same instant in a concerted effort, let us say, to
+make the sponge move, there would be no mechanism to assure harmony
+of action. The muscle cells at each outlet would react according to
+their own inclinations--some relaxing, others contracting. Confusion
+of action could scarcely fail to result. The sponge, however, does
+not need to move about in order to get its food. Being stationary, it
+obtains its nourishment by sucking the water through its pores, and by
+regulating the flow the muscle cells do all that is required of them.
+
+
+_A New Motor Device_
+
+Simple as is this muscular equipment, it possesses great possibilities
+for further development. It clearly indicates how such mechanisms for
+producing motion might be expanded to create all of the surprising
+varieties of motors which in time enabled animals to move about over
+the earth, in the water, and through the air. It is true that the
+simple strands of muscle in the sponge are far from powerful; but when
+a number of muscular strands are collected together they may take form
+in such muscles as the biceps of the arm, the great extensors of the
+leg, or those covering the entire body.
+
+The presence of the muscle cells created the need for a nervous
+system to control and regulate their activities. In order to act
+together muscles require a supervisor. The first important step in
+this direction was taken when certain simple animals like hydras
+and sea anemones (_Metridium_) made their appearance. These animals
+are equipped with muscles in several parts of their bodies. Some of
+them, unlike the sponges, have the power to move about a little,
+crawling slowly like snails. They are also capable of moving their
+many tentacles, and thus are able to reach out and grasp food. All of
+these movements call for the action of the many different muscles. The
+sea anemone has thirteen different sets of such muscles, the exact
+coöperation of which requires the closest harmony of action. Each part
+must be mutually adjusted to the others. It must act in the right
+rhythm and with the proper force. Such delicate adjustment as this
+could not be left to chance. It needed an adjuster and regulator. It
+required also a system of communication between the cells in order
+that each might sense how the others were acting during any given
+interval of time. In consequence of these requirements many cells were
+specialized as timers, signallers, and dispatchers. They acted like
+independent telephone stations, each serving separate districts; such,
+for example, as the individual tentacles of hydra or of sea anemones.
+These separate stations were known as nerve cells. _In them the first
+elements needed for the origin of the brain made their appearance._ At
+first they were scattered and had limited communication by means of
+slender strands, the nerve fibres. There was as yet no central operator
+for receiving and routing their messages which were transmitted rather
+diffusely by a loose nerve net.
+
+
+_Foundation Stones of the Brain_
+
+In spite of this apparent simplicity, these nerve cells were the
+foundation stones of the brain. Scattered as they were, they lacked
+that unity of action which is the real secret of nerve power. A more
+constructive plan for utilizing their capacity was requisite at this
+stage. Such a plan was eventually forthcoming. It was exactly what
+might have been expected in the progressive development of any good
+business concern; namely, consolidation. In effect, it was a merger
+uniting the separate nerve units into one centralized system. How
+this merger was brought about may be recognized in such animals as
+the jellyfish (_Cœlenterates_). In them the body equipment consists
+of an outside layer called the “exumbrella,” and an inner layer, the
+“subumbrella.” In the latter the older arrangement of the nerve cells
+as scattered, more or less independent stations still persists. These
+stations form a net of communication on the under surface of the
+animal. But where the subumbrella joins the exumbrella, making the rim
+of the jellyfish, the nerve fibres and the nerve cells form a nervous
+ring entirely surrounding the animal. This is the first time in the
+history of animal life that an actual central nervous system makes
+its appearance. This ring of nerve fibres and cells acts as a central
+receiving and dispatching station. It is a central office for receiving
+information from the outside world and a dispatcher for sending
+orders to different portions of the animal so that all parts may
+coöperate harmoniously. Certain special organs develop along the rim
+of the jellyfish, whose functions have some bearing upon the sense of
+direction. These structures are known as the marginal sense organs or
+“lithocysts.” They are in direct communication with the central nervous
+system. Certain other sense organs are also present in the form of red
+or black specks of pigment at the bases of the tentacles; they are the
+“ocelli,” which are sensitive to light and are, in fact, the simplest
+form of eyes. Thus, in such low forms of animal life as the jellyfish,
+the first signs of special sense organs made their appearance, and the
+nervous elements were for the first time organized to form a central
+governing mechanism for the animal.
+
+
+_Nerve Concentration in Forming the Head_
+
+Following the merger of the scattered nerve cells to form a central
+system, the process of developing a brain had opportunity to advance
+along another new line. The circular nervous system of the jellyfish
+passed through many modifications as it adapted itself to the form
+of different types of lowly animals. The great impulse thus imparted
+toward the formation of the brain veered off in numerous directions
+until a new and decisive change occurred in the arrangement of the
+muscles. At this juncture certain animals appeared whose bodies were
+much elongated and slender. Their muscles were arranged in straight
+rows, one behind the other. Such an arrangement had definite advantages
+for transportation, and these advantages were utilized by such animals
+as the flat worms (_Platyhelminthes_). Many of the nerve cells and
+fibres became concentrated in the head end of these animals. This head
+region in a general way took the lead in directing the activities of
+motion and transportation. It also had centralized in and about it
+many of the most important structures of life. The animal at this
+critical stage now possessed a head and a body. In the broadest sense
+the development of such a head may be likened to the creation of a
+definite executive office within which was established a supreme organ
+to preside over the rest of the body.
+
+Further concentration of nerve cells in the head of the animal was the
+next step in this constructive process. This advance added materially
+to the centralization of nerve power, which was the keynote in the
+formation and growth of the brain.
+
+If this process of successive upbuilding seems mysterious and almost
+miraculous, especially from its feeble beginnings in a single cell,
+it is scarcely more remarkable than the commonplace miracle that has
+resulted in the development and birth of every newly created animal
+since the dawn of time. The offspring of each species--fish or fowl,
+beast or man--has its beginning in a single cell. It passes through
+stages of cell colonization, of class distinction among cells, and of
+specialization of organs for the various functions of life.
+
+In the main, these two processes have run parallel in their programmes
+of construction--the beginning and development of life on our planet,
+the beginning and growth of every new life created. Summarized thus
+briefly, these successive stages necessary to bring the brain into
+existence may appear unimpressive. But when we consider that each
+forward step required ages for its achievement, we may appreciate that
+this was indeed a marvel of progress. From nerve cell to brain is a few
+short words in print; but it required millions of years for the slow
+advances to attain even the humble level of the flat worms.
+
+
+_Development of Better Brains_
+
+With the head at length in its proper place and the most simple
+kind of brain installed within it, vast horizons of life still lay
+ahead. Better mechanisms were needed for a more successful struggle
+with existence. More capable motors were required for more efficient
+locomotion. These improvements came after the passage of long intervals
+of time. By degrees more highly developed animals, such as bees, ants,
+beetles, or other insects, lobsters, crayfish, and shrimp, began to
+appear. Their brains were much better organized than those of the lowly
+worms. The special senses of sight, smell, and taste became highly
+important, while the central organ which presided over all activities
+acquired a remarkable complexity in its structure.
+
+How much these animals gained from their better brain power is clearly
+seen in their behaviour. The achievements of ants and bees and beetles,
+as well as many other insects, have long been a matter of wonder, a
+theme of interest and fascination. If we credit these animals with
+highly capable brains, it is their just due. One detail in their
+organization, however, became a serious handicap to them in their
+further development. The passageway from the mouth to the stomach ran
+directly through the centre of the brain. If the brain grew extensively
+it would encroach upon the gullet, ultimately shutting off the only
+channel for food. This embarrassment actually overtook many insects
+like the mosquito. Here the brain became large. The tube connecting
+the mouth and the stomach was thus reduced to a fine calibre, and
+the animal was forced to depend upon the highly concentrated fluid
+diet obtained by sucking blood. Coarser forms of food could not pass
+the œsophageal ring which the brain forms about the gullet. Thus the
+stomach and the brain came into serious competition with each other.
+If the brain grew larger the stomach would be deprived of food. In
+consequence, this situation created a dangerous hazard to life.
+
+
+_Advent of Backboned Animals_
+
+In addition to this stomach-brain dilemma, animals such as the insects
+suffered from another handicap because of the outer skeleton which
+protected their bodies. This skeleton was in the form of a more or
+less rigid shell, as in the lobster, crab, or crayfish. It was to
+overcome the effects of such handicaps, according to some authorities,
+that the great race of backboned animals came into existence. In any
+event, such animals seem to have circumvented the difficulty of having
+a brain which surrounded the gullet. They also overcame the necessity
+of carrying a heavy shell about on the outside of their bodies. An
+inner skeleton did away with this embarrassment. It is not altogether
+clear how or when this transition took place. Many students of this
+matter believe that the basis for this change is to be found in the
+starfish group of lower animals (_Echinoderms_). Others maintain
+that the change began with some creature not unlike the horseshoe
+crab (_Limulus_). It is also believed that the animals which served
+as the intermediate forms for this advance were the ostracoderms, a
+group which has long since become extinct. They are known to us only
+through fossil preservations. They possessed, however, so many fishlike
+features that they may well have served as the forerunners of the
+earliest animals with backbones. Whatever else is in doubt, one detail
+of this transition is definite. The brain, already well developed in
+certain lower creatures, now received a fuller opportunity to advance
+along more advantageous lines. The first gains of this kind are seen in
+the fish. Judged by outward appearances the object of such new brain
+development was to provide a more efficient regulator for a new and
+more efficient kind of animal. The fish, in one particular at least,
+showed higher specialization. It was built for speed in locomotion.
+The shape of its body, the arrangement of its muscles, the position
+of its fins, the design of its head, and the form of its tail gave it
+many advantages over lower animals. Equally important were the special
+organs by which it sensed the world. The fish possessed powerful and
+remarkably constructed eyes. It had most delicate organs for smell,
+and an effective apparatus for taste. In fact, all of the senses of
+the body were now so thoroughly organized that each one of them had
+its own special department in the brain. According to this new type of
+administrative organization, an endbrain, an interbrain, a midbrain,
+and a hindbrain were established for distinct departmental purposes.
+
+In spite of this better arrangement, there were still decided
+limitations in the brain. The most serious of these deficiencies lay
+in the mechanism regulating the energy turnover. The fish had little
+power to withhold its reactions. Its impressions from the outside world
+produced almost immediate responses. Such rapid reactions precluded the
+wide range of acts which characterizes more deliberate behaviour.
+
+The brain machinery for the most ample kind of living was not yet
+present at this stage of animal development. It did begin to make
+its appearance, however, when certain of the fish assumed partial
+adjustment to life on land. These adventurous pioneers managed to
+crawl out of the muddy waters at times when there was a lack of
+oxygen or when the supply of food was insufficient. They set on foot
+those progressive changes that gave rise to fore and hind limbs in
+such amphibians as the frogs. When these latter animals made their
+appearance nearly all of the fundamental problems of the vertebrate
+brain had been solved. Nevertheless, there was still the need of
+certain expansions in brain power and these, in some part, were
+supplied during the age of reptiles.
+
+As yet, however, that handicap of almost instantaneous reaction which
+seriously limited the life of fish had not been entirely overcome by
+the amphibian or by the reptile. These animals still lacked the brain
+mechanisms needed for the deliberate and varied actions of the most
+efficient life. They had not yet altogether escaped from the ancient
+tyranny of automatic or reflex reaction.
+
+At length the mammals, throughout the different periods of their long
+progressive age, introduced the final detail of brain perfection. The
+secret of this perfecting detail was the addition of a new mechanism to
+the brain never possessed by animals before this time. The great and
+new areas of the cerebral hemispheres now came slowly into existence.
+With them developed new and greater capacities for action together with
+far more effective adjustments to life.
+
+
+_Vast Ages of Animal Life_
+
+All of these developments reach back a great distance in time, so
+great that it is difficult to calculate its exact duration. According
+to modern estimates the first animals came into existence about
+1,000,000,000 years ago in the Proterozoic period. This period was
+followed by the Palæozoic, which began approximately 300,000,000 years
+ago, and is known as the Age of Fish. Then came the remarkable Age of
+Reptiles, beginning about 200,000,000 years ago, followed by the Age of
+Mammals, which commenced in the neighbourhood of 65,000,000 years ago.
+The present Age of Man has had a short duration, extending back only
+about 1,000,000 years.
+
+Two methods have been depended upon in determining these figures and
+the age of the earth. The first is based upon the rate of deposit and
+upbuilding of sedimentary rocks. The estimated period required for the
+development of each rock layer has provided a time-table for the age of
+the different strata of the earth’s crust. The second method calculates
+the rate at which common salt is extracted from the land and deposited
+in the oceans. Imprints of fossil animals upon the several rock layers
+also reveal the age of different strata. The discovery of radium
+afforded the latest gauge for estimating geologic time. The physicists
+now tell us that former calculations have been far too modest and
+that we must go back still further to reach the actual beginnings
+of our earth. Their “radioactive clock” indicates that the earth is
+1,600,000,000 years old.
+
+During all this vast interval there has been a succession of great
+changes in the earth and its waters. Continents have risen above sea
+level, to be submerged again. Great inundations of continental oceans
+have swept inward and made vastly different land divisions from those
+which exist to-day. North America has been more or less widely flooded
+by great oceans at least fifteen times. Other continents have been
+similarly inundated. Mountain ranges have risen and crumbled away by
+erosion. In point of geologic time most of the present mountains are
+relatively young. The oldest of these is the Appalachian range which
+was formed during the Permian period approximately 230,000,000 years
+ago. The Rocky Mountains appeared at the close of the Cretaceous,
+100,000,000 years ago, while the Swiss Alps are of much later
+development, having been formed at the close of the Miocene about
+15,000,000 years ago. Even the Himalayas are relatively young when
+compared with the earth’s antiquity. They had not taken on their full
+gigantic proportions until the close of the Eocene about 45,000,000
+years ago.
+
+According to many authorities, great continental land connections
+once existed between Africa and what is now part of South America.
+This connecting continent disappeared beneath the ocean long ago. So
+also did the land connection between Asia and North America in the
+region of the Bering Sea. An important land connection existed between
+England and the Continent, across what is now the English Channel, in
+Pliocene times. It was present, therefore, at some time within the last
+6,000,000 years. Immense inland seas have drained off or evaporated and
+left in their places great desert spaces, like the Bad Lands of the
+West.
+
+
+_The Long Upward March Toward Humanity_
+
+While these changes were in process marked alterations in climate
+affected the surface of the earth. Glacial ice caps descended from
+the poles, later to recede and leave the earth invested in tropical
+warmth. Time and again these changes recurred. The crust of the earth,
+chilled by intense refrigeration for protracted ages, grew warm again
+for equally long periods when tropical vegetation crept up toward
+the poles. These changes in vegetation have been accompanied by many
+changes in the animal inhabitants of the globe. Species of animals
+in profusion have come into existence only to follow the path which
+led to extinction. In many cases the forms of life began simply and
+progressed by graded stages to greater structural complexity. Man is an
+outstanding example of this rule. He began in much simpler form than
+that in which he now exists. This relative simplicity is particularly
+true of his brain.
+
+Thus, as if descending a long stairway, we may pass by the successive
+terraces of the earth’s history toward the beginnings of geologic
+time. The expanse of this time is difficult to conceive. From the
+inception of animal life in the long Proterozoic Age, throughout the
+ages of Fish, Reptiles, and Mammals, man’s brain was in the making.
+Irresistible forces molded the various stages of its progress. Species,
+genera, families, and even entire orders of animals came into existence
+and disappeared as wastage in a great experiment. Yet, through all
+vicissitudes of time and change, the long upward march toward humanity
+held its place. Ultimately it became the dominant feature in creation.
+The advent of man introduced a new era. It remains to be seen whither
+the forces moving in this Age of Man will take us. They may be leading
+to extinction. The way to such a termination is clearly open to our
+race. On the other hand, the brain has made man what he is and may
+save him for better things. Its interesting pioneer ancestry, although
+extremely remote, has left a well-established record. The history of
+its development through the process of evolution in the backboned
+animals is still more interesting.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+ANCESTORS BEFORE THE APES
+
+THE BRAIN FROM FISH TO MAN
+
+
+_Practical Significance of Evolution_
+
+There are many who still harbour resentment against the ape, especially
+in explaining man’s origin. As a result, hostilities often flare up
+against evolution. It cannot be denied that the unattractive ape is
+at the root of these reactions. He is the bar sinister and the real
+stumbling block in the evolutionary theory. He is also, to many people
+at least, the entire gist of it. That we are descended from monkeys is
+rather generally accepted as the meaning of evolution. This view, at
+best, is a superficial explanation of what evolution really means. No
+scientist to-day believes that any one of the living apes is ancestral
+to man. These animals belong to families totally divergent from the
+human family. They have ascended well up into the trees. Here doubtless
+they will remain, quite as unconcerned in human origin as they are
+innocent of participation in it. Our interest in evolution should not
+centre upon the ape kind. The line of our ancestry reaches far back of
+them through millions of years. We were in the making long before there
+were any apes on earth. They, in their tree life, merely afforded the
+last finishing touches which shaped our course toward humanity. If we
+wish to acknowledge our hereditary indebtedness properly, we would be
+compelled to recognize in our family tree that highly important line of
+mammals which first introduced the custom of arboreal living. Back of
+them are still older lines which deserve equal ancestral credit. Here
+are found those animals without the existence of which we should never
+have arrived. Among these is the vast assortment of reptiles, together
+with mammal-like reptilians which appeared in the Age of Reptiles. All
+of these reptilian forms were in their turn indebted for existence to
+earlier amphibians and fish, their progenitors during the long Age of
+Fish. Thus the true line of evolutionary descent leads us from fish
+to man. Not until we appreciate the meaning of this long vertebrate
+lineage through all its various phases does the vital significance of
+evolution become clear. If we view it in this way it is possible to
+sense the irresistible force that has carried animal life onward and
+upward through the ages from the earliest times. This force may still
+carry us onward. In its broader applications such a viewpoint should
+make an urgent appeal for thoughtful consideration. It offers many
+suggestions concerning further advances and readjustments in human
+behaviour.
+
+
+_Evidence of Evolution in Our Bodies_
+
+The brain is one of the best witnesses testifying to this long
+evolutionary development of man. It contains convincing evidence of
+this process in three striking particulars. First, it gives numerous
+signs indicating its primitive origin from the lowest of the
+vertebrates, the fish. Second, it bears identifying marks of intimate
+association with animals of its own class, the mammals. Third, it
+has a large number of details in its special mechanisms possessed in
+common with all of the primate order, to which man belongs together
+with the lemurs, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes. This evidence is not
+circumstantial. It is direct and unimpeachable. It leaves no point in
+the line of man’s long descent to be decided by inference. It embodies
+factors which led, step by step, to the upbuilding of the human brain.
+
+Other tissues and organs of the body tell the same story of slow,
+steady progress upward, from some low and simple phase of life, through
+many graded stages of improvement until the human form at length came
+in sight.
+
+The blood has been an especially positive witness concerning this
+progressive development. Tests with many different kinds of animals
+show that the blood of man is much nearer to that of the great apes
+than to the lower Old World monkeys. The relation between the human
+blood and that of the New World monkeys is still more remote. In
+general, these blood tests are among the most convincing proofs of
+evolution.
+
+The bony system of the body is another decisive witness. The skeleton
+of the fore and hind limbs sheds much light on the changing adjustments
+which have been made in the motor apparatus. The use of the limbs as
+fins, paddles, wings, hoofs, paws, claws, hands, or feet, indicates
+the broad family relations and kinship of various animals. The size and
+shape of the skull and the character of the teeth reveal the manner in
+which this evolutionary process has passed through its several stages.
+The muscular system, the system for eliminating waste products of
+the body, the heart and the lungs, all afford important evidence of
+vertebrate kinship and evolution. The increase in the complexity of the
+breathing apparatus, from the early gill stages of the fish to the lung
+of the mammal, through all its many intermediate phases, discloses with
+astonishing clearness the course of this progress.
+
+
+_The Embryo as a Witness_
+
+Testimony from another source also stands undisputed. This
+corroboration comes from the manner in which all vertebrates are
+conceived and formed. The witness in this case is the embryo, which in
+all animals begins in the same way. Embryonic existence starts from a
+single cell. It holds true to the earliest beginnings of animal life
+that first appeared in a single cell such as the amœba. In the higher
+animals this cell is called the ovum. From it, after fertilization,
+two cells are derived, then four, then eight, then sixteen, until it
+has an appearance closely resembling some of the colonized protozoan
+animals. Here again, even in man, is seen that decisive stage in which
+a critical cellular distinction is made between outside and inside
+cells. From this time specializing progress in the growing individual
+goes forward. Each new phase repeats in a general way a stage of
+development previously attained in the evolution of life. All embryos
+of vertebrate animals pass through such phases. The fish embryo carries
+the process up to the stage characterized by those improvements which
+developed during the Age of Fish. The amphibian embryo takes the
+process one step farther. It adds new features essential to living
+on land. Embryos of reptiles and of birds introduce the progressive
+advancements peculiar to their kinds. The mammal embryo takes the
+final step, prior to which it passes successively through the several
+phases of the lower grades of life. The human embryo follows the
+mammalian plan and puts the finishing touches of development upon what
+the mammal has gained from all the stages below it. Fish, amphibians,
+reptiles--all have their beginning in a single cell. Regardless of the
+differences in body form, in mode of life, and in behaviour, all are
+cast in a mold of development based on a common design. Thus, while the
+blood, the bony system, the muscles, the teeth, the eliminating system,
+the heart, and the lungs tell the story of progressive development, the
+embryo gives a summary of this process by disclosing the general plan
+which underlies the manner in which every backboned animal is formed.
+
+The brain contains a comprehensive record of this progress. There are
+reasons why this is the case. Brain influences pervade and dominate all
+other systems. This organ is the great transformer of energy, which so
+assembles other parts in operation that the body as a whole becomes
+a smoothly acting machine. It receives sensory impressions from its
+environment. It controls the reactions incited by these impressions.
+In this dual capacity the brain has been especially sensitive to
+those influences of change and adjustment, of action, reaction, and
+interaction that have affected animal life during its long existence.
+It has responded to these changes and has retained the impression
+of such responses. In many cases it has been structurally improved.
+Gradually it became capable of sensing the world more effectively. It
+acquired the capacity to react on a broader scale. Developing along
+certain progressive lines it has served to transform impressions
+received from the senses in such a way as to produce an increasingly
+more effective turnover of nervous energy. For this reason it is
+necessary for us to estimate the value of such senses as were utilized
+in this way. Without going too extensively into detail, it may be said
+that, with extremely few exceptions, vertebrate animals possess four
+chief varieties of sense. Each of these supplies the brain with stimuli
+necessary to its proper reaction.
+
+
+_Value of Our Senses_
+
+First, chemical sense, through special organs for smell and taste,
+conveys information concerning certain chemical conditions in the
+surroundings. The sense of smell derives its impressions from gaseous
+or volatile substances which, among other things, may create a pleasant
+or a disagreeable odour important in selecting food. The sense of taste
+gathers its information from substances in solution. It depends upon
+acid, sweet, bitter, salty, or other similar stimuli. The primitive
+headquarters for taste are in the hindbrain, while the endbrain serves
+in this capacity for the sense of smell.
+
+Second, body sense furnishes information concerning what transpires
+within the body, as in the heart and lungs, in the stomach and
+intestines, and in other special organs. It also supplies equally
+important information concerning what contraction is occurring in the
+muscles, how the bones are being moved, what postures the different
+parts are assuming, and how the body as a whole is being balanced.
+
+Third, contact sense makes known what is going on immediately outside
+the body. It depends upon many things which touch the body surfaces,
+such as the touch and pressure of a handclasp, the temperature of
+water upon the hand, the vibration of a heavy vehicle running over the
+ground. Body and contact senses had their original headquarters in the
+midbrain and interbrain.
+
+Fourth, distance sense supplies information concerning objects in the
+world outside of the body more or less remote from it. The information
+which this sense brings is news from abroad. It is gathered by the
+sense of sight and the sense of hearing. Sight, in a way, is touch at a
+distance. When an animal sees its enemy a long way off it, so to speak,
+touches this enemy with its eyes and thus gives the brain the needed
+information while there is yet time for escape. Sight depends upon
+light waves, and hearing upon sound waves. By such means these two
+highly specialized agents of distance sense gather their information.
+The central offices of sight and hearing were at first situated in the
+midbrain.
+
+All impressions obtained from these senses were and still are the raw
+materials utilized in the energy turnover produced by the brain.
+
+Improvement was not always the result of the great struggle for
+adjustment. There were many ups and downs, many trials, many failures.
+Yet a certain insistent tendency toward progress was constantly in
+evidence. By means not entirely clear, this tendency ultimately
+succeeded in finding some way to become effective. It appears to
+have exerted its influence by selecting definite parts of the animal
+machinery for emphasis or repression.
+
+Often some highly selective improvement was developed in the brain to
+meet special conditions. Such is the expansion in the bird’s brain by
+which the sense of sight is greatly amplified. This special increase
+makes it possible for the bird to see its prey from great distances in
+the air, as the hawk sees the fish in the water, or the vulture detects
+the presence of carrion by its keen eyesight. The sense of smell in
+birds is much less developed than vision.
+
+In scenting animals, like the dog, the fox, and the cat, selective
+improvement has affected the sense of smell. In a few instances the
+addition of a relatively new sense was the means by which improvement
+manifested itself. Such an addition is seen in that transition when
+fish life first began to assume the characters of living upon land. At
+that juncture the sense of hearing was added in some amphibious animals
+belonging to the same class as the frog. These and other methods for
+getting a better supply of raw materials through the senses contributed
+to progressive development in the brain.
+
+
+_The Sense Combiner_
+
+Still more effective was the improvement which came as a new mechanism.
+It provided a special apparatus that may for convenience be called the
+“sense combiner.” The office of this mechanism was to assemble sense
+impressions in the brain, to make composite pictures of sight, hearing,
+taste, smell, and all other senses. This sense combiner served also
+as an effective depository for impressions already received. It held
+them in readiness for use as a background of experience that would be
+needed for new or subsequent situations. At a glance it is evident that
+the brain having the best sense combiner would outstrip all others
+in its efficiency and output. In the earliest vertebrates this new
+mechanism did not acquire a centralized headquarters. Its operations
+were controlled from several scattered stations in the brain. Obviously
+such division of responsibility could not be considered an efficient
+method of control. Centralization was needed, and certain stages in
+the development of the brain from fish to man illustrate how this
+improvement was gradually brought about.
+
+The first or fish stage, as might be expected, expresses the beginning
+of this process of improvement in simplest terms. There are many who
+do not credit the fish with such a thing as a brain. These animals,
+however, are equipped with an effective organ of this kind. Its
+efficiency is not high according to human standards, yet, as we shall
+presently see, it has many characteristics of the human organ and
+reacts to similar stimuli.
+
+In the fish brain there are nearly all of the working departments
+found in man. Much variation exists even among fish. Some of them have
+very simple brains. This is true of the earliest forms, but the more
+advanced types acquired brains thoroughly efficient for the special
+complexities of existence in which they had to live. The several
+departments in these brains are adjusted to their requirements. The
+sense of smell in the fish is particularly well developed. It has
+certain limitations, however, due to the fact that it must depend
+upon substances borne by the water. The department of this sense,
+nevertheless, occupies the major portion of what in these descriptions
+will be called the endbrain. The sense of taste is also well organized
+in fish. In certain of them, like the catfish, it has received special
+emphasis, because in addition to taste organs in the mouth there are
+organs of this kind scattered over the entire body from head to tail.
+The primitive central office of the sense of taste in fish is located
+in the hindbrain. Body sense is highly developed because most of the
+fishes are able to control their muscles and joints in an amazing way
+as they dart about in the water. Balancing of the body in swimming is
+another important problem in the locomotion of the fish. It is solved
+by means of certain highly specialized water levels (semicircular
+canals). The body sense department occupies the interbrain. The sense
+of sight in most fish is fairly well advanced, although it has distinct
+limitations. Being placed on the side of the head, each eye acts more
+or less independently of the other, and the fish, so to speak, gets a
+two-eyed picture of its surroundings. It will subsequently become clear
+that one of the most important events in the progress of the brain has
+been the development of that kind of vision in which both eyes receive
+the impression of an object at the same time. Then again, the medium
+in which the fish lives is in many respects less favourable for the
+passage of light rays than the air. The retina of the fish’s eye which
+first receives the light rays also indicates a relative simplicity in
+the organization of vision. For these and other reasons the fish’s
+sense of sight cannot be as effective as in the higher forms of life.
+This sense department is located in the midbrain.
+
+
+_Starting with the Fish_
+
+The fish stage in the development of the brain shows a striking
+deficiency in its lack of provision for a sense of hearing. Strictly
+speaking, fish have no ears. It is believed that the ability to hear
+which the human being possesses is denied to them. In still another
+respect, however, a more obvious deficiency makes itself apparent.
+The brain is poorly equipped in mechanisms that could specifically
+be called sense combiners. Some slight degree of combination between
+the senses does take place, but this at best is meagre and simple.
+Consequently the brain’s output, that is to say, its productive
+turnover, is limited. It confines itself to those reaction patterns
+with which we are familiar in the habits and behaviour of fish. The
+limitations by which these patterns are restricted are evident in the
+fact that the animal’s entire life programme is carried on largely
+under water. If an attempt were made to estimate the capabilities of
+the fish as a machine compared with other animals, it would almost
+certainly receive a low rating. The justification of this low estimate
+is obvious. The reasons for it are twofold: first, the relatively low
+degree of development in each of the sense departments including the
+lack in one department (sense of hearing); second, the poorly developed
+sense combiner.
+
+Professor Gregory has devoted much time in the American Museum of
+Natural History to the study of the progressive stages from fish to
+man, and especially to those changes which appear in the head. He has
+shown that in this fish stage the animal at first had no lower jaw and
+no teeth. Its mouth served as a sucking organ, which thus obtained food
+in the form of minute organisms and small particles of organic matter.
+Certain new patterns were introduced with the appearance of primitive
+sharks. These animals had a lower jaw impregnated with lime salts,
+thus made effective for supporting many successive rows of formidable
+teeth. Such sharks also had well-developed gills. Certain lobe-finned
+fishes of a somewhat later period (_Crossopterygian_) began to live in
+streams and swamps. By means of their peculiar fins they were able to
+crawl over the surface of the land, and thus they were the forerunners
+of the next more completely air-breathing stage determined by the
+appearance of the amphibians.
+
+
+_The Beginning of Life on Land_
+
+The second or amphibian stage came after those steps had been taken
+which led certain modified forms of fish life to attempt a partial
+adjustment to living on land and to breathing air. True amphibians
+then made their appearance. Animals called tetrapods, or four-footed
+creatures, were the result of this change. They were the forerunners of
+all higher animals. By the slow conversion of their fins and paddles
+into legs they acquired a new kind of transportation machinery. With
+the aid of these four legs the animal could now hop about on land and
+also swim in the water much as do the frogs. Such a transformation
+had a profound effect upon the entire body, which became greatly
+shortened and in many instances no longer possessed a tail (except in
+the polliwog stage). The head also changed. New devices were necessary
+for the purposes of air-breathing, which replaced the old method of
+getting oxygen out of the water. One of the most important changes,
+however, was the addition of the new sense of hearing. The amphibians,
+living partly on land, were now able to receive useful information by
+means of air waves. The advent of this new sense was destined to have
+momentous effects upon the further development of the brain. Each of
+the several sense departments is well represented in the frog. The
+sense of smell is highly organized. It contains some improvements over
+the fish for the reason that the animal is now able to scent odours
+borne by the air. The sense of taste shows little if any improvement.
+Compared with many of the fish it has actually receded. Body sense is
+well provided for and shows certain refinements due to the fact that
+it has taken on the new responsibility of sensing four legs. It also
+has the duty of supervising what is going on in the muscular machine
+when the animal performs its new kind of motion, hopping about over
+the ground, leaping into the water, or using the new frog-method of
+swimming. The department of the sense of sight shows some improvements
+when contrasted with that of the fish. The frog is able to adjust its
+vision both to air and water. While on land it is able to see many
+things that never come into the range of the fish’s field of vision.
+Some of the frogs even go so far as to have what is called a third
+eye in the middle of the forehead. This organ, however, is but poorly
+developed and serves more for light perception than for actual seeing.
+The introduction of the sense of hearing, by establishing certain
+innovations in the frog brain, provides an advantage over the fish. It
+is, however, in furthering the development of the sense combiner that
+the frog’s brain shows its most distinctive advance. The two great
+hemispheres are now clearly outlined. The endbrain, in consequence of
+land-living and air-breathing, has taken an important step forward. In
+all further advances this part will bear the chief burdens of progress
+and improvement.
+
+The frog and his kind represent a machine that in many respects is
+not much better organized than the fish. But amphibians did serve to
+introduce advantages that were utilized in new adjustments to life;
+such, for example, as living on land, breathing air, getting about on
+four legs, and being able to hear. Besides this, the way was now opened
+for a better type of sense combiner. There was promise, if not actual
+profit, in these new amphibian endowments. Professor Gregory has shown
+that among the most important changes in the amphibian head were those
+which ultimately led to the formation of the ear. The skin in this
+region was already beginning to act as a tympanic member or eardrum.
+
+
+_Epoch of Giant Reptiles_
+
+The third or reptile stage witnessed that critical advance that came
+with the fully established habit of living on land. The amphibians,
+both those which retained and those which lost the tail, took the
+first somewhat hesitating steps in this direction. They were, however,
+essential predecessors to the next higher order, the reptiles, which
+upon their arrival stepped out boldly. During the remarkable Mesozoic
+period these reptiles covered the earth with their dominating and
+often hideous presence. No period compares with this one for the
+awe-inspiring inhabitants that peopled the world. It was then that
+the gigantic dinosaurs were the overlords of creation. Some of these
+monstrous creatures were composed of many tons of flesh and bone. They
+became the most terrific fighting machines ever produced by nature.
+Even the tail, which had disappeared in many of the amphibians, became
+prominent as part of the offensive equipment in these reptile monsters.
+Gigantic size was an outstanding structural feature. But these huge
+dimensions carried their own penalties. They were extremely hazardous
+and destined to bring catastrophe. Even if some of the great reptiles
+might have been thoroughly efficient fighting machines, they lacked
+the essential advantages of progressive brains and brain power. In
+this respect they had improved but little. That tremendous monster
+_Tyrannosaurus rex_, the most destructive engine ever created, had a
+body weighing many tons, with a brain of less than a pound.
+
+The prolific Mesozoic reptiles inhabited the land and infested the
+waters of the earth, its oceans and inland seas, its lakes and rivers.
+They also for the first time attempted to realize the advantages
+of another mode of life. Having adjusted their weird bodies to
+the water and to the land, they next took to the air. Late in the
+Permian or Triassic times (150,000,000 years ago) some lizard-like
+reptiles, partially biped in habit and distantly related to the great
+two-legged dinosaurs, assumed habits of life adapted in part to the
+trees. Specialization of their fore limbs led to wing-like structures
+for purposes of volplaning to the ground. Such modified fore limbs
+eventually acquired the character of wings, and thus, according to
+some authorities, the most ancient of known birds had their origin in
+the Age of Reptiles. Many students of this subject believe that bird
+life may have begun at an even earlier period.
+
+More conservative and also far less conspicuous was another tendency
+which developed in this reptilian age. For a long time it remained most
+unpretentious. The spectacular development of huge animals for land and
+sea held the centre of the stage. Mere size, however, is not always
+sufficient for success and progress. In any event, a certain number
+of relatively small reptiles began to show changes along entirely
+different lines. At first it was difficult to discern the signs of
+progress in them. Slowly, however, significant modifications came about
+in two important details: First, in the readjustment of the fore and
+hind legs, so that acting together they began to lift the body of the
+animal clear off the ground. The second great change was an alteration
+in the teeth, which were gradually specialized until they assumed the
+characters recognized in those later animals known as mammals. These
+two new traits, developed by relatively inconspicuous reptiles, led in
+time to animals that became the actual forerunners of the mammals. They
+are known as the pro-mammalian reptiles (_Cynodont_, _Theriodont_).
+
+
+_Reptile Forerunners of the Mammals_
+
+It is probable that while these momentous changes were in process an
+equally important modification had begun. This change affected the
+blood. It caused the blood cells to become smaller and at the same
+time better conveyers of oxygen. These cells also began to lose their
+nuclei. As a result, certain animals passed from a cold-blooded,
+scaly reptilian condition to that of the warm-blooded, hair-covered
+mammal. The constant warm temperature of the blood in these mammalian
+forerunners must have been a decisive influence favouring the further
+development of the brain.
+
+In many respects the reptilian brain is inferior to that of the
+mammals. All of its sense departments are fairly well represented.
+The senses of smell and taste have made slight advances over the
+amphibian stage. Body and contact senses have perhaps gained some
+slight advantage over the previous period. In sight and hearing there
+were some improvements. Collectively the reptilian mechanisms for
+managing impressions obtained through the senses are considerably
+better than those of such animals as the amphibious frog. At least one
+of the reptiles (_Sphenodon_) developed a third eye in the middle of
+the forehead. This is not, however, a highly efficient visual organ.
+The sense combiner in the reptile also shows some advantage, although
+in the main the reptilians appear to have acquired little more of
+practical value, except greater speed and more power, than their
+predecessors, the amphibians.
+
+Even when reptile development took that bent which led to the
+appearance of birds, the brain received but a slight benefit from this
+adjustment to the air. Selective progress in the bird’s brain is
+unquestionably found in that marked expansion involving the department
+of sight. Body sense also expanded to meet the requirements of sensing
+and balancing the body in flight. But to offset these advances both
+the sense of smell and the sense of taste have undergone considerable
+recession. Adaptive progress here, as in many other instances,
+emphasized one department with some apparent loss of advantage in other
+parts. Consequently the sense combiner, which ultimately produces
+the most effective combinations of sense impressions, has shown no
+conspicuous advantage among the birds.
+
+
+_Disappearance of the Great Reptiles_
+
+The reptile stage of life, especially in its most imposing phases,
+witnessed but little advance in the progressive development of the
+brain. During this period all of the great departments of brain
+structure, such as the endbrain, the interbrain, the midbrain, and
+the hindbrain, were retained and somewhat expanded. But that highly
+important mechanism that was finally to act as the superbrain,
+technically known as the neopallium (new outer coating of the brain,
+the cortex), had not yet been acquired. It may be in part for this
+reason that, as the Mesozoic period advanced, catastrophe was rapidly
+overtaking many of the great reptilian groups. Of the eighteen orders
+of reptiles that once filled the world, all but five were mysteriously
+swept into oblivion. Why they passed is not yet clear. It may have
+been due to great changes in the surface and climate of the earth
+at different times. It may have been that the gigantic size of these
+reptiles made the struggle for existence too severe or the food
+supply too precarious. Whatever the cause, they all seem to have
+paid the penalty of excessive specialization. The five orders which
+have survived these destructive catastrophes include the snakes, the
+crocodiles, the lizards, the turtles, and the lizard-like tuateras of
+New Zealand.
+
+Notwithstanding this wholesale destruction, there was a priceless
+heritage handed down from the Age of Reptiles. This heirloom was the
+beginning of the warm-blooded mammal, which slowly developed from
+the humble pro-mammalian reptiles. It endowed the animals that were
+to rule the next great period of the earth’s history with power to
+get about on four feet, with increased ability to withstand great
+changes of climate, with added capacities in preparing their food for
+digestion. This last advantage depended upon a new kind of teeth which
+the mammals inherited from their immediate reptilian ancestors. All of
+the teeth possessed by primitive reptiles were fang-like (laniary),
+used for seizing their prey or tearing their food. These reptiles
+had no grinding teeth, and this condition left the responsibility of
+digestion to the stomach and other organs. In most of the mammals
+digestion begins in the mouth with actual mastication. The early
+pro-mammalian reptiles (_Cynodonts_) were equipped with grinding teeth,
+and their dental apparatus, as in all mammals, included incisors,
+canines, pre-molars, and molars. Teeth such as these were important
+items in the legacy received by the mammals from their ancestors, the
+pro-mammalian reptiles.
+
+
+_When the Warm-blooded Mammal Appeared_
+
+In the fourth or mammalian stage, life entered upon the Age of Mammals
+with all of these new endowments. Almost at once it began to show
+signs of progress. It was in the brain that this progress became most
+apparent. A new mechanism long in the making now came into existence.
+This new structure may be rightly called the superbrain (neopallium),
+since it soon proved to be the most decisive step yet taken in the
+development of the sense combiner and in the further expansion of all
+the senses. At first it did not make its appearance in any preëminent
+manner. It came as an outer covering over the ancient parts of the
+endbrain. Within it, however, were possibilities of expansion such
+as were possessed by no other part of the brain. Ultimately it added
+about twelve billion cells to be used in many different kinds of
+brain activity. This addition was especially characterized by the
+orderly arrangement of the cells, layer upon layer, almost as if each
+successive layer imparted some new capacity for the management of life.
+In its fully developed form this structure constitutes the cortex of
+the hemispheres, and with its fibre connections makes up as much as
+eighty per cent. of the entire brain.
+
+It could hardly be expected, even after the first arrival of the
+mammals, that this new brain addition would at once attain its
+fullest development. In fact, the first attempts along this line were
+feeble. A new and great production of weird mammals was in process.
+It might almost seem as if the imposing shadows of the previous Age
+of Reptiles still hung over these early mammalian experiments. Huge,
+ungainly proportions were still the fashion. In many instances the
+primitive mammals themselves developed gigantic and awkward bodies.
+They were strange, unsightly beasts as we know them now from their
+fossilized skeletons and from reconstructions of them. Were it
+possible to reassemble them, what a sensation they would create in
+our modern world. Even the best efforts of our foremost showmen would
+be ineffective to describe those strange monsters of most unfamiliar
+appearance, with their peculiar armours, their long unsightly horns and
+tusks, their strange hoofs and claws. The mammoth, the mastodon, the
+amblypod, the titanothere, the creodont, the sabre-toothed tiger, and
+many others would be among them to excite wonder.
+
+
+_The Paths to Extinction and Progress_
+
+But all of these have passed, in part at least, because, like the
+dinosaurs, they possessed inferior or unprogressive brains. Indeed,
+many of the earliest mammals had brains that in some particulars
+resembled those of the reptiles. They grew in size and power until they
+became repulsive brutes, although their brains improved but little.
+In many of them the superbrain developed only in a small way. It was
+notable not for its size but for the position it occupied above more
+ancient structures. In their struggle for life these huge beasts seemed
+to be unable to adjust themselves to changing environment; so probably
+when the conditions became too severe, not having the capacity to adapt
+themselves, they failed to survive. Many orders of these animals became
+extinct in the early part of the Age of Mammals (Oligocene and Eocene,
+thirty million to sixty-five million years ago). Others, showing more
+progressive tendencies, continued to advance, and their descendants
+have come down into modern times. One striking difference between these
+progressive and unprogressive mammals was certainly in the brain.
+Wherever this organ remained primitive, wherever the superbrain was
+only feebly developed, the fate of extinction seems to have been a
+foregone conclusion. Such animals soon reached the end of their line.
+But wherever the superbrain expanded, there the signs of progress were
+unmistakable. One extremely important factor in the survival of most
+of the mammals alive to-day was the progressive development in the
+most recently acquired portion of the brain. Great practical results
+were brought about by its expansion in the administration of brain
+power. It produced, so to speak, the final consolidation of all the
+sense departments under one roof. Reactions connected with the sense
+of smell and of taste, which had so long depended upon the primitive
+endbrain, marked this structure as the most advantageous location
+for centralization. Whatever may have been the influences that
+established this preference, here the departments of body and contact
+senses, of sight and hearing, were finally organized. The effects of
+this consolidation were immediately felt by the endbrain. It at once
+became a superbrain in the truest sense. Rapid expansions in the actual
+size of the hemispheres were the first signs of this new development.
+Then came the process of convolution and folding to obtain more brain
+room, and this for the same reason was followed by still more complex
+convoluting. These advantages especially favoured contact sense, the
+expansion of which was largely due to the fact that the mammal body
+was now covered with a highly sensitive skin equipped with hair. Such
+a skin was a new sensory device by which finer impressions of touch
+might be conveyed to the brain. In this manner the animal was able to
+form more complete judgments concerning objects with which it came
+in contact. Little by little, these judgments of touch became more
+critical and discriminating. A great range of understanding of the
+world through touch sense was made available. One critical impression
+of touch was added to another until complex judgments in this sense
+were constructed. Similar expansions in the powers of vision, hearing,
+and body sense led to their localization in this new part of the
+brain. Their most effective activity soon required still further
+extension, which ultimately, by the development of the frontal lobe,
+made provision for the highest faculties. The mammals have thus shown
+their progressive tendency in the acquisition of an efficient sense
+combiner. Through their better sense capacities they have been able
+to understand their surroundings more thoroughly than lower animals.
+Consequently their energy turnover in the brain has resulted in a
+better output by means of which they have made more ample adjustments
+to life. All of this they have been able to accomplish because they
+possessed a mechanism of incalculable value, the superbrain. Yet the
+mammals have not in all cases utilized this mechanism to its full
+extent. Its advantages have been applied in different ways and for
+different purposes. In some instances they have been utilized for the
+special adjustments of the hoofed animals, or in the hunting craft of
+the great meat-eaters, or in that furtiveness of the moles, which seek
+their protection by burrowing in the ground. The advantages of the
+superbrain were applied to many other diverse specializations, such as
+the adjustments of bats for flying, or of beavers, seals, whales, and
+porpoises for living in the water.
+
+
+_The Superior Brain of Mammals_
+
+The mammalian brain has made possible a wide range of behaviour and
+adjustment. This range exceeds that of the fish, amphibian, reptile, or
+bird. Concerning the increased capacity of the mammals as a class there
+seems to be no doubt. But this greater power of adaptability is also
+true of every mammal. The differences in this respect between the lower
+mammals, like the rat, the opossum, or the sloth, when compared with
+the bird, the snake, the frog, or even the fish, may not be striking.
+But when we contrast the actions and capabilities of such mammals as
+dogs, horses, elephants, or any of the cat family with those of the
+bird or snake the vast differences speak for themselves. A dog, for
+example, has by comparison with lower vertebrates a greatly increased
+capacity for getting on in life. He is capable of adapting himself to
+many complications incident to his associations with man. He has a much
+more ample repertoire of performances. He is capable of learning many
+intricate accomplishments. In general, such learning is also true of
+most of the higher mammals; it is particularly true of those having a
+highly developed superbrain. Even aquatic mammals like the seals show a
+remarkable degree of adaptability. They are among the most interesting
+of trained performers. A casual glance is sufficient to reveal what an
+excellent superbrain they possess. Elephants, in spite of their huge
+proportions and awkwardness, are capable of remarkable adjustments.
+Their brains are also highly developed.
+
+Yet, however decisive the mammalian superiority in brain power may be
+over the lower vertebrates, most of the mammals are held down by many
+handicaps, restrictions, and limitations. They all possess a capacity
+for broad adjustments to strictly limited conditions. For life in the
+water, in the air, upon the plains, underground, or in the forest,
+they may be well adapted. But the specializations of their own bodies
+hold them to their specifically restricted adjustments. With trunk and
+head, with hoof and paw, with wing and flipper, they may do the things
+which these implements make possible. Here their opportunities cease.
+In this way even the progressive mammals are confronted by serious
+obstacles. These mammalian obstacles were difficult to overcome. Some
+of the mammals, however, became specialized for a more varied kind
+of life. They manifested a strong tendency to live chiefly in the
+trees. This fact influenced their further adjustments profoundly. It
+opened the way for new specializations in their limbs. It gave a new
+direction to progress, which finally called upon the brain for its
+supreme development. These important tree-living animals are the monkey
+kind and the manlike apes. All of the events in adjustment preceding
+this great epoch might be likened diagrammatically to a succession of
+plateaus. Each plateau, beginning with that of the fish, then rising
+to the level of the amphibians, of the reptiles, and finally of the
+mammals, contributed some important elements to progress. From these at
+length came the upper level of the apes, that plateau destined to give
+rise to many varieties of primates, and also to afford those footholds
+essential to the further upward climb of man.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+MAN IN THE MAKING
+
+HUMAN PROGRESS FROM PREHISTORIC TO MODERN TIMES
+
+
+_Arrival of Man_
+
+Long before man appeared upon the scene the brain had passed through
+certain preliminary grades. Its basic patterns had been perfected. Its
+most important mechanisms had been improved. All manner of animals
+inhabited the earth in those preparatory days--fishes, amphibians,
+reptiles, birds, and mammals of many varieties. They were the stepping
+stones of progress. When at length the first members of our family
+arrived their brains were barely human, and they themselves were crude
+human beings. There was a certain triumph in their advent, however, for
+at last there were men. The Age of Man which they inaugurated was to
+differ from all preceding ages in the products of human achievement.
+This great inaugural event, however, made no particular stir in nature.
+Its beginnings were insignificant and humble, just as the brain of
+these earliest men was a far less imposing organ than that possessed
+by modern people. It was still a crude brain, unrefined in many of its
+structural details and small in its capacity. Hundreds of thousands
+of years were still necessary for such a brain to attain its highest
+efficiency.
+
+To most of us who are accustomed to count time as the hours between
+breakfast and dinner, or, at the most, as the proverbial threescore
+years and ten, these long periods sound fabulous and fantastic. In
+contemplating the past our vision usually stops short at the beginning
+of history, about five or six thousand years ago. Such a focus is
+unfortunately nearsighted. It leaves us insensitive to the much longer
+prehistoric period. Through all this unrecorded time man struggled
+upward to achieve those successes which at length established the Age
+of the Frontal Lobe.
+
+Much evidence of this great prehistoric period is now available.
+Examined carefully and without prejudice it reveals what man must have
+been when his human journey first started. It tells us much of how he
+lived and acted; also by what means he succeeded in lifting himself up
+step by step from his lowly beginnings.
+
+
+_The Duration of Human Existence_
+
+It is natural that our first inquiry should be concerning the length
+of time during which the human race has inhabited the earth. The
+exact figures, as might be expected, are a matter of much dispute
+and difference of opinion. All authorities, however, agree that the
+several stages of human progress must have required a remarkably long
+period. None of the modern estimations of this period is less than
+five hundred thousand years. Many calculations, such as those of Sir
+Arthur Keith, far exceed this figure and place the origin of man as far
+back as a million years or more. The beginnings of the human species
+are usually attributed to the early part of the Pleistocene, or the
+late part of the Pliocene. Keith, however, believes this does not
+permit of sufficient time for that development which produced all of
+the effects evidenced in the known features of modern man, as well as
+those of certain extinct varieties that have long since passed from
+the human stage. Concluding his famous work, the _Antiquity of Man_,
+Keith expresses the opinion that “There is not a single fact known to
+me which makes the existence of the human form in the Miocene period
+an impossibility.” This view would set the origin of man back to an
+astonishingly remote period in the neighbourhood of twelve or fifteen
+million years ago.
+
+Professor Osborn has recently revised his original estimations
+concerning the beginning of the human race. He now attributes the rise
+of man to a time one and a half million years ago.
+
+In all his races, both living and extinct, man constitutes the sixth
+family in the primate suborder, _Anthropoidea_ (manlike). This family
+is known as the _Hominidæ_ (men of all types). The progenitors of the
+human family split off from a common primate stock at some time early
+in the Oligocene. At this critical juncture, probably twenty-five
+million years ago, two great branches of the suborder parted company.
+Thenceforth they developed independently of each other. The first
+branch from this common stem gave rise to human races. From the
+second branch arose the great modern anthropoid apes, including the
+orang-outang, the chimpanzee, and the gorilla. The vast difference
+that exists between man and all other living creatures is evident in
+the complexity of human affairs. In size and form of body there are
+many notable resemblances between man and the apes, particularly the
+great apes. But here the similarity ends abruptly. Man has created a
+new world, which he strives to control both by laws of his own making
+and by subjugating more or less completely all other creatures to his
+will. His races to-day throughout the world are collectively known as
+the species _Homo sapiens_ (man of wisdom). This species comprises the
+African, the Australian, the Mongolian, and the European varieties of
+mankind.
+
+
+_Four Extinct Races of Men_
+
+Study of human fossils and ancient implements has revealed the former
+existence of at least four prehistoric races of man. These races took
+their parts in the human drama and then, in consequence of factors
+not altogether clear, became extinct. It is not surprising that man’s
+obscure prehistoric beginnings are all but lost in the great geological
+ages which lie behind his recorded history. There can be small wonder
+that such insignificant traces of his remains have yet been brought to
+light. The search for these remains has been in progress for little
+more than a century. Doubtless when this exploration becomes more
+extensive, also when more people are engaged in its organization, a
+considerable collection of relics revealing man’s primitive stages will
+be discovered. Nothing more than a meagre record could be expected
+because so little effort was originally made to preserve the remains
+of the earliest prehistoric men. In those long-distant days the bodies
+of the dead were either disposed of by burning, or merely cast out to
+be devoured by beasts and birds of prey.
+
+The principal criteria for estimating the antiquity of human remains
+are four in number. First, the age in geological time of the strata
+within which the remains are found. Second, the fossil remains of
+the animals associated with the fossil remains of man, whether these
+be of still living forms, or entirely extinct species. Third, the
+human artifacts, that is, implements, ornaments, and other objects
+produced by human hands, found with the remains. Fourth, the structural
+characteristics as to skull and other parts of the skeleton, which
+distinguish these fossil men from living races.
+
+Quite as important as the fossilized bodily remains of prehistoric man
+are those ancient works of human hands that have been slowly collected
+as a result of untiring search and scientific industry. It is now
+possible to classify this great body of evidence. Besides revealing
+the actual presence on earth of prehistoric man, this classification
+clearly demonstrates the occurrence of certain cultural stages prior to
+the historic period. The extinct races of men already brought to light
+appear to vary considerably from the modern man; so much so, in fact,
+that a question has been raised concerning the wisdom of creating for
+each of them a new genus within the human family. One reason for this
+distinction is that no one of the extinct races may properly be called
+the ancestor of living man. Some arrangement in the chronological order
+of man’s appearance on earth is desirable. The exact period of each
+extinct race cannot be given. But within certain broad limits we are
+able to assign each prehistoric man to his proper time and place.
+
+
+_Javan Ape Man_
+
+Probably the oldest, most primitive of extinct races is the ape man
+of Java (_Pithecanthropus erectus_). This ape man belonged to what is
+called the Trinil race, which, according to Keith, originated more than
+one million years ago. The ape man, although definitely human in type,
+had many simian qualities. He was also so similar to man as to justify
+the view that he represents some transitional stage in human evolution.
+He possessed a head and a face not unlike those of an ape, but his
+brain was nearly twice the size of the brain of any simian including
+the largest of the great apes, the gorilla. It was this transcendent
+advantage that lifted him above all of the anthropoids and assured him
+an unassailable place as a member of the human family.
+
+The fossil remains of the ape man were discovered in 1891 by a Dutch
+army surgeon. Dr. Eugen Du Bois made the discovery on the Bengawan
+River in central Java where he had been excavating in the hope of
+finding pre-human fossils. He actually did find a number of mammalian
+bones, including a single upper molar tooth, which he regarded as
+those of a new species of ape. On carefully clearing away the rock
+and gravel at this site on the bank of the river, the top of a skull
+came to view about a yard from the spot where the tooth had been found.
+Further excavation brought to light a second molar tooth and a left
+thigh bone. Both of these were about fifteen yards from the place where
+the skull had been discovered. These scattered parts were carefully
+studied by Du Bois, who, in 1894, published a description of a new
+animal--_Pithecanthropus erectus_ (_Pithecus_, ape; _Anthropus_, man).
+The entire term was meant to signify an upright standing ape man. The
+word “_erectus_” refers to the thigh bone concerning which Du Bois
+observes:
+
+  We must therefore conclude that the femur [thigh bone] of
+  _pithecanthropus_ was designed for the same mechanical functions as
+  that of man; the two articulations [upper and lower joint surfaces]
+  and the mechanical axis correspond so exactly to the same parts in
+  man that the law of perfect harmony between form and function of a
+  bone will necessitate the conclusion that this fossil creature had
+  the same upright posture as man, and likewise walked on two legs....
+  From this it necessarily follows that the creature had the free use
+  of the upper extremities--now superfluous for walking--and that
+  these last [the arms and hands] were no doubt already far advanced
+  in the line of differentiation, which developed them in mankind
+  into tools and organs of touch.... From a study of the femur and
+  the skull, it follows with certainty that this fossil cannot be
+  classified as a simian ... and as with the skull so with the femur
+  the differences that separate _pithecanthropus_ from man are less
+  than those distinguishing it from the highest anthropoid [great
+  ape].... Although far advanced in the course of differentiation this
+  Pleistocene [Age of Man] form had not yet attained to the human type.
+  _Pithecanthropus erectus_ is the transition form between man and the
+  anthropoids which the laws of evolution teach us must have existed;
+  he is the ancestor of man.
+
+More extended study of the brain of this ancient fossil creature shows
+that he was in reality human. This man did, however, retain so much
+that was ape-like in his make-up that it is difficult to agree with Du
+Bois in his view that _pithecanthropus_ was a direct human ancestor.
+He was, of course, able to walk upon both feet much like his modern
+successors. It also seems probable that in stature this primitive man
+was not greatly inferior to the human races of the present. It is
+likely that he employed his hands in the use of weapons and certain
+crude implements. It also seems probable that he depended upon very
+primitive means for protecting himself against the numerous enemies
+that beset his path and lay in wait about his camping places. His time
+doubtless was fully taken up by the arduous task of gaining sustenance
+for himself. So busy was he in these obligatory pursuits that he had
+little opportunity for developing industries or cultural activities.
+This human creature with his ape-like appearance was closely related
+to many beast-like contemporaries in the animal kingdom. He managed to
+hold his position among them only by a narrow margin of superiority.
+His ascendancy was derived from a dawning ingenuity, which enabled
+him to equalize the struggle by the cunning of his hand. He took
+advantage of primitive shrewdness and contrivance to outwit his natural
+antagonists that far excelled him in power and speed.
+
+However manlike _pithecanthropus_ may have been in respect to the
+posture of his body and the general character of his locomotion, it is
+certain that he was much below any of the known races of man in his
+brain power. His face and head each bore a closer resemblance to the
+ape than to man. His brain indicates that he had probably acquired some
+mode of speech, primitive no doubt, yet sufficient for the purposes
+of simple human communication. It is likewise probable that he lived
+in tribes and, being gregarious, had learned some of the advantages
+accruing from community life. He may have had some crude notion at
+least of the division of labour and its compensations in sharing the
+results.
+
+
+_Dawn Man of England_
+
+From certain flints, which seem to have many features indicating their
+use as instruments, Professor Osborn believes that there were primitive
+men living in England at a time earlier even than that assigned to the
+ape man of Java. These prehistoric people are called “Subcrag Dawn
+men.” It is his opinion that they made use of certain flint instruments
+called “rostro-carinates.” Dr. Osborn, believing that these primitive
+people are close to the beginning of the human race, places their
+origin in the Pliocene, 1,300,000 years ago. In consequence of the
+discovery of certain somewhat different flint instruments, he is of
+the opinion also that the Subcrag men were followed at a little later
+period by the Foxhall Dawn men (antiquity about 1,200,000 years).
+Disputes about these early prehistoric Englishmen arise from the
+fact that no actual human remains of them have yet been found. This,
+fortunately, is not the case with the now famous English Dawn man of
+Piltdown, attributed by Professor Osborn and other authorities to the
+last part of the Pliocene (a little over a million years ago). Piltdown
+is a town in the weald of Sussex not many miles from the English
+Channel, between two branches of the Ouse River. To the east of it is
+the plateau of Kent upon which have been found many flints of earliest
+prehistoric times. It was at Piltdown that the most famous of English
+Dawn men was discovered by Mr. Charles Dawson. The fossilized remnants
+consisted of a number of fragments of this extinct man’s skull. Because
+of the fragmentary condition of this fossil, it was necessary to give
+each piece its proper relation to the head in order to reconstruct
+the skull. A reconstruction of the Piltdown skull was first presented
+to the Geological Society of London, in December, 1912, by Sir A.
+Smith-Woodward of the British Museum, and its discoverer, Mr. Charles
+Dawson. The announcement of this remarkable discovery deeply stirred
+the interest of scientific circles. An unknown phase of the early
+human existence was about to be revealed. The reconstructed skull as
+pieced together impressed all who saw it as a strange blend of ape and
+man. It seemed that the missing link for which the early followers of
+Darwin had ardently searched was at length forthcoming. But whether
+this was the long sought-for missing link or not, the Piltdown strata
+in Sussex told of a race of human beings who inhabited England long
+before history had made its feeblest beginnings. Dr. Smith-Woodward
+believed that the Piltdown fossil dated back to the early part of
+the Pleistocene period, but Sir Arthur Keith and Professor Osborn
+now advocate an antiquity far more remote going back to some portion
+of the Pliocene. Although it is impossible to be more exact in these
+estimations of prehistoric time, it is clear that a very primitive
+race of men lived in England long before Cæsar’s invasions; in fact,
+ages before the ancient Britons claimed the land that was to produce
+many of the most brilliant lights of history. By some the Piltdown man
+is regarded as the direct ancestor of modern races; by others he is
+held to be an independent branch of the human family of quite unknown
+affiliations.
+
+
+_Neanderthal Man_
+
+Some time early in the Pleistocene, variously estimated from 800,000 to
+900,000 years ago, another race of man made its appearance in Europe.
+This was the Heidelberg race (_Homo Heidelbergensis_). These people
+manifested many traits distinctly more human than the ape man. It is
+believed from the implements found in the neighbourhood of his fossil
+remains that the Heidelberg man made use of crude implements both of
+wood and stone. This man, although he became extinct before human
+progress had made great advances, appears to have been the ancestor
+of the Neanderthal race (_Homo Neanderthalensis_). This latter is the
+third race of prehistoric men recognized up to the present time. Much
+more than all others who had gone before him, Neanderthal man has left
+traces of himself. Many of these relics are the stone implements that
+he employed. From these implements it is evident that the organization
+of his life had made long strides in the direction of his more modern
+successors. His advances in industry and in cultural development laid
+the foundation for all the stages that progressively evolved as the
+human race rose through the Old Stone Age. Yet the fate of Neanderthal
+man was not unlike that of other prehistoric men. In time he also
+became extinct. His disappearance occurred about fifty thousand years
+ago, when a fourth and even greater race of primitive men came into
+Europe. These were the Cromagnons. After they had completely replaced
+the Neanderthals they flourished for a long time, in the end to be
+replaced by the races of Neolithic men which continued dominant up to
+the time when man gained mastery over the metals.
+
+It seems clear, then, that the earliest human beings began as simple,
+nomadic hunters. After the passage of great intervals of time and
+an actual succession of races, men acquired the crude essentials of
+manufacture and then gradually, as in the Cromagnon period, developed
+the dexterity and æsthetic sense of the artist. Finally, in the New
+Stone Age, they learned the practices of agriculture.
+
+The past of prehistoric man has been subdivided into periods
+characterized by the presence of implements employed in his several
+activities. In general, these periods bear the name of French stations
+or towns near which the discoveries of the implements have been made.
+French archæologists have so successfully devoted themselves to the
+efforts of classifying the flint implements that they have established
+a chronological order in the development of human progress during the
+long periods of man’s prehistoric existence.
+
+
+_The Old Stone Age_
+
+Man’s first great epoch on earth was the Old Stone Age (Paleolithic,
+900,000 years ago). In this era, which began at some time in the first
+interglacial period, the only implements were devised from flint or
+stones of other kind, from wood, carved ivory, and bone. The Old Stone
+Age was followed by the Neolithic (New Stone Age), which began in
+postglacial times and rapidly led up to the thresholds of history,
+through the Bronze and Iron ages.
+
+Long before the Old Stone Age it is probable that man was at work in
+the slow development of industries that later were to assume great
+importance. Hunting was the great incentive out of which all of
+his early industries were evolved. Little is known of his cultural
+development, although it seems fairly clear that the Subcrag Dawn
+men used certain implements called rostro-carinates, while the Dawn
+men of Foxhall and Piltdown employed very primitive implements known
+as eoliths. These were so crude in appearance that they are looked
+upon by many as merely accidental forms. With such simple and limited
+instruments, man’s struggle for existence in these earliest days must
+have been most severe. Even at the time when the Old Stone Age began,
+the primitive flint implements manifested considerable development.
+For example, in the Pre-Chellean cultural stage (beginning 700,000
+years ago), the chase is represented almost exclusively by a simple
+flint knife. This knife, although extremely crude, in conjunction with
+other equally crude combinations of stone and stick, gave man a slight
+balance of power over other animals inhabiting the field and forest as
+his competitors. His simple equipment furnished the means to gain his
+daily food, and to establish that footing by which he rose step by step.
+
+War in this period was not among man’s highly organized pastimes.
+He appears to have had no implements for warlike pursuits. He had,
+however, invented certain instruments for industrial and domestic
+purposes, such as a flint scraper, a planing tool, a drill, and a stone
+hammer. Nothing among his primitive equipments appears to have answered
+the purposes of art or artistic production.
+
+In this early Pre-Chellean period, man was a vagrant hunter. He
+lived without the protection of habitation and was thus exposed to
+the devastations of the great meat-eating animals that followed his
+wanderings. He had not acquired sufficient constructive ingenuity to
+protect himself against these dreaded marauders. They stalked him in
+his marches by day and lay in wait on the outer edges of his camps
+to find him an easy prey when he slept at night. The less fortunate
+members of his tribes were within easy reach of these night prowlers
+that waited only for darkness to help them in the capture of their
+human quarry. Man’s slow imagination required ages to show him that he
+held in his own hands the power to subjugate the beasts of prey. For a
+long time he struggled on this low level of intelligence. He lived a
+hand-to-mouth existence, passing his days like other animals, getting
+his food supply as he dared, and protecting himself as best he could.
+Doubtless some critical occurrence like the discovery of fire and its
+uses may have furnished a new incentive for his advance. Some great
+change in climate with increasing cold may have stimulated him to more
+vigorous exertion, may have forced him to become a more persistent
+hunter of animals, both for their meat and the warmth to be had from
+their protecting skins. Long winter seasons when game was scarce may
+also have taught the wisdom of storing his supply of provisions and
+thus aroused in his imagination some conception of the advantages in
+thought for the future. Living along with him was an imposing host
+of other mammals. Among them were the lion, the wolf, the cave bear,
+the deer, and the wild boar. Over the plains roamed the Etruscan
+rhinoceros, the Mosbach horse, and the ancient elephant. Following
+this game he wandered from station to station, always living near the
+course of the great rivers, but showing little tendency to establish a
+permanent abode. A restless migrant, he was moved by the dictates of
+the seasons almost as instinctively as the migratory birds and beasts.
+He had not learned the secrets which later enabled him to stand
+against the severe vicissitudes of climate. The idea which gave him
+that self-assurance to stake out his own claim, to assert his right to
+his own angle of earth, was still in embryonic state.
+
+
+_Neanderthal Progress_
+
+The foundations of that possessive sense destined to become the chief
+characteristic of the human race and at length the ruling passion of
+humanity had as yet been laid down only in their simplest form. It
+was Neanderthal man who introduced the first real advances over this
+primitive level of life. In the Chellean cultural period (500,000
+years ago), even more in the Acheulean period (400,000 years ago),
+his race developed rapidly. His progress is shown by a great increase
+and considerable refinement in all of the small implements which he
+employed.
+
+He now developed a chisel or adze-like tool for shaping his wooden
+implements. He made flint points to form darts and spear heads to
+aid him in the chase. But for all these advances, it was not until
+Neanderthal man passed into his wonderful Mousterian stage of culture,
+about 300,000 years ago, that the human race took a most decisive step
+forward. This step was in every sense critical and epoch-making. It
+may also be looked upon as a highly profitable step. The effects of it
+have made themselves felt with increasing force upon all the subsequent
+development of the human race. It was a new departure that, taken so
+long ago, actually led the Neanderthal man to the threshold of an
+idea in many ways quite original. Ultimately the expansion of this
+idea was to become one of the keystones of all social organization. It
+may indeed be regarded as the fundamental principle in the upbuilding
+of human society. This notable step forward gave the Mousterian man
+the first real conception of property holding. It implanted in his
+mind that germ out of which grew the rights of possession. This was an
+idea which was handed down by him as an heirloom to all the remainder
+of his race, and to all other races of mankind. The conception of
+property holding developed from the fact that the Neanderthal man in
+Mousterian times became a cave dweller. He sought shelter from the
+elements in these rude dwellings fashioned by nature. Why he had not
+availed himself of these shelters long before is not difficult to
+understand. The caves which he might have found to his liking were
+already inhabited by dangerous tenants, such as the cave lion, the
+leopard, the hyena, the wolf, the great cave bear, and perhaps even
+the dread Machærodus or sabre-toothed tiger. All of these were his
+natural enemies. For the most part they had been successful enemies.
+Man had scarcely dared to dispute the right of way with them, far
+less the right of possession. Through all his long periods of upward
+progress, he had not yet learned the means by which he could contend
+with these beasts of prey on anything like an equal footing. They took
+from him at will and his retaliation at best was feeble. They, rather
+than he, were the real masters of the situation. This state of affairs
+was bound to continue until some critical discovery revealed a new
+instrument whose deadliness placed in human hands a supremacy over
+these creatures. Some strategy, some modification of the old flint
+instruments, perhaps some new combination of them with fire, at length
+gave Neanderthal man the needed advantage and then he drove the hostile
+beasts out of the caves. In time he established there his own dwelling
+places, and there proclaimed his inalienable right of possession. Such
+a hazardous undertaking undoubtedly required a hardy courage and an
+unwavering persistency. Yet a hard-fought contest of this kind could
+not fail to have a marked influence on the final outcome. Once man had
+gained the right of ownership, all of the struggles incident to it
+served to emphasize his final sense of possession. This triumph did
+much to stimulate human desire for gain. It seems fairly clear that
+from it arose the incentives of conquest. Since Mousterian times man
+has expended much of his energy in exploiting this new advantage. He
+has made laws to justify and regulate it. The rights of possession
+have had a dominating influence over all of his economic and political
+organizations. Most of his moral code has been built up around these
+rights. States and empires have been founded upon them, while the
+governing principle in the life of the individual has been the right to
+have and to hold. In a word, this newly expanded sense of possession
+started by Neanderthal man has become an essential element in all the
+achievements of mankind. It has no less been the cause of much woe and
+maladjustment in the race.
+
+
+_Mousterian Success and Character_
+
+It is difficult to estimate the importance of this contribution to the
+development of human progress. We may at least give Mousterian man due
+credit for establishing this new assertiveness. He likewise deserves
+recognition because this achievement was an outstanding milestone on
+the road toward higher humanity. For this reason it is worthy of a
+special commemorative date. As chronicled by Professor Osborn, this
+memorable occurrence, the beginning of cave dwelling, took place about
+300,000 years ago. In more senses than one it was a red-letter day for
+humanity. It was especially a red-letter day because of the recurring
+bloodshed of innumerable wars destined to arise out of the lust and
+greed inspired by this expanded sense of possession. This, however, is
+the most unfavourable aspect of the Mousterian’s new idea. He himself
+should not be made to appear too black on this score. He was actually a
+considerable personage and introduced many other new ways of looking at
+life that have been highly advantageous to us all.
+
+Living in dark caves as he did, especially in the long bleak winters,
+as the glacial periods crept down upon him, he must have found much
+of mystery in those dim recesses to stimulate his imagination. It is
+probable that he became a believer in occult forces of nature, and
+perhaps even developed a system of magic. These suppositions become
+more probable from the fact that he, for the first time in human
+experience, established the custom of burying the dead. The men who
+lived before him belonged to what may be called the pre-burial period.
+This fact unquestionably accounts in part for the scanty human remains
+before Mousterian times. The Neanderthal Mousterian not only buried his
+dead but he developed an elaborate burial ceremony. The general nature
+of this ceremony is shown by the position of the body and of the limbs
+as they were found folded and flexed in the fossilized remains of these
+men of the Old Stone Age. With certain primitive people this is still
+the custom. Even in the case of some of the ancient Egyptian kings
+many personal belongings were buried with the dead. Favourite weapons
+of the chase, useful implements of one kind or another, ornaments and
+other trinkets presumably dear to the departed ones, have been found
+with the skeletons in these Neanderthal sepulchres. Special attention
+was given to prevent pressure upon or crushing of the head by means
+of placing large flat stones upon either side of it. There are some
+indications that even as far back as the Old Stone Age man, as part
+of his burial service, deposited certain articles of food beside the
+body of the departed. All of these facts clearly reveal that as long
+ago as 300,000 years man had acquired his first religious ideas. There
+is every suggestion about these burial ceremonies that the Mousterian
+cave man believed in another life after death. He appears to have had
+a strong conviction that the body was but a temporary container of
+some intangible spirit that in its time passed on into another world.
+It seems probable that he also believed in the return of the departed
+spirit to its earthly habitations, else why did he place food in the
+sepulchres? In his crude way of thinking he seems to have had certain
+well-fixed ideas of the pursuits and occupations in the life hereafter.
+For this reason he left a useful collection of weapons and other
+implements close at hand, ready for the spirit that had left the body.
+The Mousterian idea of immortality may have been simple, but there is
+no doubt that it existed. Whether there was a belief in God or not is
+difficult to discern. It is probable, however, that the Mousterian,
+like all other primitive people, did have some conception of a supreme
+being, and that he had thus laid the foundations of religion.
+
+It is for these reasons that the cave-dwelling Mousterian man
+especially deserves our attention. The features of his face and the
+character of his body as reconstructed by scientists make him appear
+to be a particularly formidable human being. Everything about him
+indicates that he was powerful and aggressive. In a word, he was
+a splendid fighting machine with heavy, protruding lower jaw, low
+beetling brow, thick and short neck, long and heavy-muscled arms,
+short, powerful legs slightly bent at the knees. He was a fierce
+and dangerous antagonist; one, from all we know of his history, as
+courageous as he was powerful. It is probable that in consequence
+of his cave dwelling he had begun to live in fairly large organized
+communities. Such life as this had many influences upon his social
+activities. It developed his use of language. It stimulated his
+interest in industries other than those of the chase. It caused
+expansion in his imagination, leading to the establishment of racial
+tradition. It produced the spirit of individual competition as well
+as the pursuits of tribal rivalry. War up to this time seems to
+have been limited very largely to individual encounters. Now for
+the first time differences of opinion and controversies between one
+community and another were most likely settled by group combat. Here,
+therefore, were laid the foundations of war that was to prove one
+of the most irresistible and costly of all human indulgences. The
+self-assertiveness, which must have resulted from the cave man’s
+realization that he had finally gained the upper hand in many details
+over the natural world, caused him to change his attitude. Instead
+of being a fugitive, he now became a conqueror. It was this positive
+self-feeling that gave rise to most of his more expansive ideas. The
+multiplication of these ideas easily led him on into the realm of fancy
+and brought him many illusory interpretations concerning the workings
+of nature.
+
+During the Mousterian period Neanderthal man did not make many material
+changes in the implements used before his time. In some instances
+there was a distinct improvement of the old ideas; in others there was
+a distinct decline or even suppression of some of the most effective
+instruments. The cave man’s aims, however, were considerably modified
+by his new mode of life. His sheltered existence lessened his physical
+powers to resist disease. The making of clothing from the skins of
+animals also grew out of this more sheltered type of life. In the end
+it produced a people less accustomed to the elements than those earlier
+and hardier races that had lived in the open. The effects of this need
+for clothing made themselves felt not only in the industry of producing
+garments but quite as much in the production of implements necessary
+for such work. Cave dwelling permitted disease and imperfect hygiene to
+go their full length in producing inroads upon this great Mousterian
+race. The ravages of infection and contagion had better opportunity to
+exert their baneful influences. These and other insidious factors were
+secretly at work. In course of time the Mousterian culture began to
+show signs of a steady deterioration. For some mysterious reason these
+men of the Old Stone Age slowly began to lose ground. The prominence
+held by the Neanderthal race during lower Palæolithic times was
+distinctly on the wane as this period approached its end.
+
+
+_Cromagnon Ascendancy_
+
+Finally a profound change came over the inhabitants of western
+Europe. For some as yet unknown reason the Neanderthal race entirely
+disappeared from the earth. Its place, however, was taken by another
+and a greater people, the Cromagnons. Without question this was a
+replacement of a lower race by one of much higher development. The
+Neanderthal was on a distinctly lower plane than any now existing
+human type. The Cromagnon ranks high among the races of mankind in
+intellectual attainment and in known capacities for production.
+He belongs to the species _Homo sapiens_, that same species of man
+which has made modern history. He held sway during the last part of
+the Old Stone Age, appearing in Europe about fifty thousand years
+ago. Like those races which had gone before him, he passed through
+many interesting phases of culture and growth. All of these were
+characterized by the development of stone implements, thus making him
+still a man of the Old Stone Age. He added many new attainments as a
+result of new human capacities. He stands out particularly as the first
+artist of mankind, and sets a mark as one of the most splendid examples
+of humanity both for his superb physical appearance and for his
+remarkable mental qualities. But he, too, like all others who preceded
+him, was destined to decline and then to disappear.
+
+The Cromagnon is interesting to us because he was the probable
+conqueror of the great Neanderthal race. What secret power he had
+to achieve this conquest, to subdue and destroy these fierce cave
+dwellers, is still unknown. It may have been that he brought with him
+some new implements for warfare, such as the bow and arrow, and that
+he had many other advantages of this kind. In any event, he showed
+no quarter to the Neanderthals, whom he seems to have destroyed
+completely. He did not even follow the custom of many conquerors,
+of intermarrying with the women of the conquered race. No generally
+admitted sign of Neanderthal features or characters persists among the
+race of men after the last Mousterian days. Beyond question it was
+the increased brain power of the Cromagnons which gave them their real
+advantages. This opinion is based on the appearance of the large brain
+case of this race and the development of the almost modern forehead
+and forebrain. In the main, our admiration for the ancient Cromagnon
+people depends upon something entirely different from their powers
+of conquest. They may have been great as warriors, but they were far
+greater as artists. This is the aspect of their lives that interests
+and influences us most.
+
+The Cromagnons were a race that developed somewhere in Asia and
+migrated westward into Europe. They came in contact with the
+Neanderthals and probably destroyed them. They had no ancestral
+connections of any kind with this other race. They possessed a brain
+capable of more complex ideas, greater comprehension, more reasoning
+powers, a wider, more facile imagination. Still more they were endowed
+with a highly artistic sense and were capable of advanced education.
+Their society was differentiated along the line of capacity and talent
+for work. Their artistic productions as shown in the mural decorations
+of their caves were so excellent as to place them among the truly great
+achievements of mankind. In the pursuits of industry and domestic life,
+the Cromagnons added little in the way of innovation. They adapted and
+perfected what the Mousterians had previously used. They did introduce,
+however, what no other people had ever employed; namely, tools and
+implements for sculpture and engraving. These tools in the main were
+small and delicate instruments made of flint. Among these was a fine
+drill, an engraver, an etcher, a carving chisel, a mortar, a hammer
+stone, and a polisher.
+
+
+_Cromagnon Cultural Periods_
+
+The Cromagnon, like the Neanderthal, passed through certain cultural
+phases. Each of these periods lasted many thousands of years and
+each of them was much longer than the Christian Era. The first of
+these cultural steps was the Aurignacian period, in which the great
+awakening of artistic enthusiasm occurred. The peak of artistic
+devotion, however, came in the Solutrean period, which was the acme
+of achievement in the flint industry. Decline set in during the next,
+the Magdalenian period, which brought the closing stage of Cromagnon
+culture. And then in the Azilian period the last survivors of the
+greatest race in the Old Stone Age, grown old in their industries and
+feeble in their art, saw the setting of the Cromagnon sun and the
+passing of their kind into the darkness. Many changes came about in
+Cromagnon industries, due to the influences of trade invasions and new
+inventions, but in their art these people showed one continuous and
+sustained development.
+
+The impressive feature about Cromagnon art, especially in the
+Aurignacian period, is the absence of that period of infantilism and
+crudity almost always observed in the artistic development of primitive
+races. The Cromagnon first reveals his artistic effort in a state of
+sturdy youth. His art passed directly into a relatively mature stage.
+Its treasures preserved in the art galleries of the ancient caves,
+comprising remarkable drawings, sculptures, and paintings, fully
+warrant the title of “Palæolithic Greeks” conferred upon the Cromagnon.
+Indeed, they resemble the Greek and Egyptian artists in many ways.
+Like them, the Cromagnon resorted to painting his reliefs whether they
+were of the bison, the horse, the deer, or the great mammoths. The
+relative simplicity of his technical skill depended upon the employment
+of fewest possible lines and boldest of strokes. To his accuracy of
+reproduction and his simplicity of style he imparted a third great
+quality. This added artistic element, which has made his art live in
+a class well up to the standards of later periods, was a feeling of
+motion, particularly of locomotion. With this he vividly endowed the
+animals carved upon the walls of his cavern, upon bone or ivory.
+
+
+_Motives of Cromagnon Art_
+
+It is clear that the Cromagnons were cave dwellers like the
+Neanderthals, but they also depended largely upon the chase for their
+living. Why, then, did they in the dark recesses of their caverns
+resort to these remarkable artistic activities? These efforts could
+scarcely be meaningless diversions. They must have been more than
+pastimes, for hours not devoted to the hunt or combat. Such arduous
+pursuits as these surely had some serious and pertinent object in
+their lives. Many explanations have been offered for the remarkable
+outburst of artistic enthusiasm in Cromagnon times. The one most
+generally accepted is that the art of these people was a part of their
+hunting magic. In the history of primitive races it has repeatedly
+occurred that drawing and design have a special significance in the
+actual maintenance of life. For example, the Australians draw pictures
+of animals they use for food. Sitting on the ground about these
+pictures, they perform certain ceremonies which they believe will
+insure a plentiful supply of the food they need. The American Indians
+are in the habit of carving images of animals. They also draw the
+signs representing rain. In the presence of these emblems they make
+incantations and believe that by this means they will secure abundant
+harvest and complete success in their hunting expeditions. Images and
+pictures act as a sort of magic talisman by means of which to exercise
+an influence over those animals which serve for food.
+
+But we do not need to go back into the pre-history of the Old Stone
+Age, or to the superstitions of people still in a primitive stage. Not
+so long ago the picture of a man was supposed to represent his spirit,
+and the possessor of such a picture could exert a magic power over his
+person. Only a few centuries ago learned judges condemned to death men
+and women on the evidence that they possessed images or pictures of
+people they were accused of bewitching. Until quite recently there were
+certain sorcerers and magicians in Sicily who for a price would destroy
+a hated enemy by the simple executionary method of sticking pins into a
+wax image of this undesirable person.
+
+It seems to require no further explanation to understand the pictorial
+efforts of the Australian natives and American Indians. Like them,
+the Cromagnons drew for the most part the animals which they employed
+for food. This may not in all respects be a satisfactory answer to
+the question: Why did man of the Old Stone Age resort to art? It is,
+however, a good working theory. It shows a real motive for his efforts
+in this direction. To his mind, all of his works of art assured him
+some peculiar magical control over the animal life that was necessary
+for his living and well-being.
+
+
+_Men of the New Stone Age_
+
+The fate of the Cromagnon race was no exception to what had gone before
+or what would follow many times thereafter. Race after race, nation
+after nation, rose and became master, declined and passed into final
+extinction. As the day of Cromagnon ascendancy waned a new race invaded
+western Europe. The Old Stone Age came to its end approximately ten
+thousand years ago with the advent of the more vigorous Neolithic (New
+Stone Age) man. He developed a great innovation in manufacturing his
+implements, making his instruments better and more useful by polishing
+the stone. Neolithic man was far more practical and thoroughly
+utilitarian than his predecessors in the Old Stone Age. He introduced
+many economic advantages and substituted the benefits of applied
+science for the delusions of magic and sorcery. The man of the New
+Stone Age, unlike his Cromagnon predecessor, did not alone pray for
+his crops. He tilled the soil and planted seed. Perhaps he believed
+in a magic ritual for his hunting expeditions, but to make his food
+supply as secure as possible, he domesticated many animals that he
+liked to eat. He was unwilling to depend solely upon hunting magic and
+art sorcery. He had discovered the true magic of agriculture and sought
+to control nature by the toil of his hands rather than by mysterious
+incantations and pictorial art. As a farmer and a cattle raiser he
+required a permanent home, and in consequence the New Stone Age gave a
+fresh impulse to the upbuilding of man’s possessive sense. Neolithic
+man became a land holder, and this advance was a long, provocative step
+in the direction of modern humanity. Because of it man had to learn
+new ways and means of defending his claim and of asserting his right.
+Very quickly this new assertiveness led to the more sanguinary ages
+of Bronze and Iron with their effective equipments for offense and
+defense. Its influences finally reached historical times. Ultimately
+these more aggressive tendencies created all of the armed camps that we
+are pleased to call civilization, ancient, mediæval, and modern.
+
+At the close of the New Stone Age all of the direct ancestors of modern
+European races were established in Europe. During the Bronze Age man
+rapidly learned those new capacities which enabled him to make a
+permanent record of himself, and thus he entered upon his real historic
+period. Some authorities set the beginning of this period only so far
+back as the beginning of the Egyptian calendar. In round numbers this
+is five or six thousand years ago.
+
+The dawn of history was followed by a procession of great events which
+began in the early Egyptian dynasties. The development of Pharaonic
+art and culture, the regal splendours of Babylonia and Chaldea, the
+incomparable achievements of Greece and Rome, followed in rapid
+succession. Each of these civilizations in its turn contributed to the
+development of the race. Then came the long eclipse of the Dark Ages in
+mediæval times, and at length the brilliant light of the Renaissance,
+the illuminating influences of which have been carried forward in that
+steady progress of material accomplishments characteristic of modern
+times.
+
+A brief review of man’s progress in his prehistoric existence shows the
+following races in his advancement, known by fossil remains:
+
+  1. Ape man of Java (_Pithecanthropus erectus_). Professor Osborn
+  prefers to consider him the Dawn man of Trinil. Probable antiquity
+  about one million years. Probably employed crude stone implements and
+  was a nomadic hunter. Had a poorly developed human brain; nothing
+  known of his cultural development. Chief contributions to human
+  progress: human frontal lobe, human speech, and a complete erect
+  posture.
+
+  2. Dawn man of Piltdown, England (_Eoanthropus dawsoni_). Antiquity
+  over a million years, probably employed crude instruments known
+  as eoliths and thus belonged to the Dawn Stone Age. Had a fairly
+  well-developed human brain. Was a migrant hunter. Nothing known
+  concerning his cultural development. Chief contribution to human
+  progress: further development of the brain.
+
+  3. Heidelberg man of Germany (_Paleoanthropus_). Antiquity about
+  800,000 years. Fairly well-developed human brain and frontal lobe.
+  Probably employed crude stone implements. Little known of his
+  cultural phases. Chief contribution to human progress: first man of
+  the Old Stone Age and probable progenitor of the Neanderthal race.
+
+  4. Neanderthal man (_Homo primogenius_). Probable antiquity 600,000
+  years. A well-developed human brain and frontal lobe. Made and
+  improved many flint implements. Hunter and cave dweller. Had definite
+  cultural periods known as the Chellean, Acheulean, and Mousterian.
+  Chief contributions to human progress: established idea of permanent
+  abode, became dominant over other animals of the earth, introduced
+  human burial, laid the foundations of religion. Founder of human
+  assertiveness and supremacy.
+
+  5. Cromagnon man (_Homo sapiens_). Probable antiquity 50,000 years.
+  Well-developed human brain and frontal lobe of modern type. Hunter
+  and artist, employed somewhat refined flint implements of the Old
+  Stone Age. Had definite cultural periods known as the Aurignacian,
+  Solutrean, Magdalenian, and Azilian. Chief contribution to human
+  progress: the conqueror of Neanderthal man; the world’s first great
+  artist. The founder and introducer of art.
+
+  6. Neolithic man (_Homo sapiens_). Probable antiquity 10,000 years.
+  Human brain and frontal lobe of modern type. Employed polished flint
+  implements of a highly developed kind. Was a hunter, herdsman,
+  and farmer. Chief contributions to human progress: introduction
+  of agriculture, culinary art, domestication of animals; also
+  establishment of more permanent abode.
+
+  7. Bronze and Iron Age men (_Homo sapiens_). Probable antiquity 7,000
+  years. Human brain and frontal lobe of modern type. Used implements
+  made of bronze and iron. Chief contribution to human progress:
+  introduction of the metals for human utility.
+
+In addition to these prehistoric races of men, certain other early
+members of our family have been recognized in the latter part of the
+Pliocene and early part of the Pleistocene. These races include the
+Subcrag and the Foxhall Dawn men who appear to have employed the
+rostro-carinate flints. Still another race was the Cromerians, who made
+and used the giant flints found embedded in the cliffs of Cromer.
+
+Prehistoric man is thus gradually emerging from his long obscurity.
+His skeletal form is known from more than 350 specimens of his fossil
+remains. In Java, in central Asia, in Rhodesia, central Africa, in
+Gibraltar, in the Island of Jersey, in France, in Germany, in England,
+in Austria, and in Galilee, Palestine, these remains have been found.
+
+All phases of man’s early existence are important to our modern thought
+and development. As the curtain of the past is lifted to reveal the
+long, prehistoric vista of human existence, it is possible to sense the
+vast distance that man has come since his journey began. It is also
+possible to see how he has made his way and why he has progressed. From
+its earliest appearance on earth the race has grown in humanity as the
+brain expanded. In man’s first struggles brain power endowed him with a
+capacity to develop and to hand down certain cultural activities. The
+earliest instruments that he fashioned gave rise to an uninterrupted
+stream of human achievements which has passed on as the main current
+of culture and knowledge. It was this capacity for progressive and
+racial learning that distinguished the human brain. Estimated by his
+accomplishments, it seems necessary to assume the existence in man of
+some special power different from all other living creatures. This
+distinguishing endowment is variously called the soul, the psyche, the
+spirit of man, or human genius. Its name may be immaterial, but its
+source is the secret of our supremacy. If we acquired this power as the
+divine gift of a creative miracle, that is one thing. If we earned it
+through a long and tedious process of evolution, that is even a more
+promising and an altogether different thing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+EDEN OR EVOLUTION
+
+GENESIS AND THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES
+
+
+_Early Beliefs in Creation_
+
+Although we may entirely reject the evidence of man’s presence on
+earth long before the dawn of history, even so there still remains a
+perplexing question that must be answered. What was man’s origin? It
+is surprising how many people have attempted to solve this troublesome
+problem. It seems to be one of the first questions that primitive man
+tried to answer for himself when he began his earliest speculations.
+He was naturally anxious to know who made the land and the water and
+the sky and all that is in them. He was especially interested, when he
+thought about such things, in deciding how he came to be what he was
+himself. And so, from earliest times, beliefs concerning the beginning
+of things have sprung up all over the world. They constitute a mass of
+speculation, which is called cosmogony (beliefs or theories about the
+creation of the universe). Only a few races or tribes of mankind have
+failed to indulge in speculations leading to such beliefs. Appearing as
+they do in the infancy or early life of a race, these beliefs must be
+the fruit of the primitive human mind. In peoples who have failed to
+progress and have always remained primitive, such beliefs, like many
+other traits and customs, continue for generations almost unchanged.
+Sometimes they become an important part of the religion of the race. If
+they are looked upon less seriously they form themes for folklore.
+
+This searching question about man’s origin has always been present and
+is, in fact, still with us. In times gone by, when man was primitive,
+or at least more primitive than he is to-day, he tried to answer the
+question as best he could. He was hampered by lack of facts because
+his knowledge and understanding of his own surroundings were limited.
+His racial experience in the world had yet been too brief for him to
+do more than see the great generalities of nature. At best he could
+merely surmise the truth of the universe. He had neither the training,
+the methods, nor the instruments necessary to disclose the intimate
+details upon which reasonable theories might be based. Being so largely
+destitute of facts, he relied upon intuition or drew heavily upon his
+imagination. It is a matter of wonder that his beliefs often took such
+noble form.
+
+Not infrequently a common central theme runs through the beliefs of
+primitive people, even though they may belong to different races and
+are separated from each other by long distances. Such, for example, is
+the belief in the manlike appearance of the Supreme Being held by the
+Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, and many other ancient civilizations. Early
+ideas concerning _creation_ illustrate this common or central theme
+still more vividly. Doubtless the conception of creation has its
+supreme expression in the opening chapters of Genesis in the Hebrew
+Testament. But other primitive people had exactly the same ideas about
+creation and the origin of man. This way of solving the problem must
+have been one of the inherent tendencies of the human mind in its
+earliest beginnings. Isolated peoples in far-distant parts of the earth
+could not have shared such similar ideas as a result of racial contacts
+or propinquity. Time and distance set them widely apart. The similarity
+might be ascribed to traditions handed down from a common stock. In
+any event, an identical theme runs through the creation story of many
+different peoples. The most effective record of this theme is given in
+Genesis, especially in the first chapter, the King James version of
+which is accepted by many as the highest literary mark ever set by the
+English language. It is of particular interest for us to follow the
+sequence of events in this incomparable chapter which depicts creation
+with such grandeur that it may well be called inspired.
+
+
+_Early Accounts of Creation_
+
+According to this record, creation proceeded as a succession of
+separate miracles. First came the miracle creating heaven and earth,
+then the creation of light, of the firmament, of the earth set apart
+from the waters, of vegetation upon the earth, of the sun, moon,
+and stars, of fish and fowl, of beasts and cattle and all creeping
+things, of man and woman together in the image and likeness of the
+Creator. The second chapter of Genesis repeats the story of creation,
+but this time in a minor key, with certain striking differences and
+discrepancies. The grandeur of the original description and its
+sublime intuition are missing. The master mind which conceived it has
+obviously been replaced by one at once much more naïve and manifesting
+a thoroughly parochial interest in the affairs and frailties of
+humankind. This second narration largely reverses the original order
+given to creation. By it man is created before all other animals and
+woman last of all. This account produces man from the dust of the
+ground, into which the Creator breathes the breath of life and gives
+him a living soul, while the rib taken from man is used to create
+woman. The discrepancies in the two accounts are obvious at once. To
+explain them the second chapter is attributed to a very early writer
+(Jehovistic document). The first chapter is ascribed to a much later
+writing (Priestly document) made during the Hebrew captivity in Egypt.
+
+Earlier than this Biblical record was the Babylonian idea of creation.
+These people also conceived that man was molded out of clay. According
+to the Babylonian version of creation, the god Bel cut off his own
+head, and the other gods, catching the flowing blood, mixed it with
+the dust of the earth, and from this bloody paste molded the forms of
+men. The Babylonians believed that men were wise because their mortal
+clay was thus tempered with divine blood. According to the Egyptians,
+the father of the gods molded men out of clay on his potter’s wheel.
+A Greek explanation of man’s origin contains the same idea, in that
+Prometheus is said to have molded the first men out of clay at Panopeus
+in Phocis. These naïve conceptions about the origin of mankind,
+common to the Hebrew, the Babylonian, the Egyptian, and the Greek,
+were doubtless handed down to these ancient civilized people by their
+savage or barbarous forefathers. Legends of creation of exactly this
+kind are current among savages and barbarians of the present day. It
+is particularly interesting to note the different forms in which this
+story has made its appearance in many distant places of the earth.
+
+
+_Creation Beliefs of Barbarous People_
+
+The Australian blacks, near Melbourne, held that the Creator cut
+large sheets of bark with his big knife. He placed on one of these a
+mass of clay and prepared it with his knife until it had the proper
+consistency. Then he set a portion of the clay on another piece of
+bark and fashioned it in human form, making first the legs and then
+the trunk and arms and finally the head. Having finished his molding,
+he took stringy bark from the eucalyptus tree, made hair of it, and
+attached it to the heads of his models. When all was finished he blew
+his breath into the mouths and noses and navels of these clay men until
+they rose and spoke as full-grown human beings.
+
+In New Zealand the Maoris believed that a certain god took red
+riverside clay, kneaded it with his own blood into a likeness of
+himself, with eyes, legs, and arms exactly similar to his own. When
+this model was finished he breathed into it the breath of life through
+its mouth and nostrils, with the result that the clay man at once came
+to life and sneezed.
+
+Among the Tahiti there is a tradition that the first man and woman were
+made by the chief god, who created them out of red earth. In Netherland
+Island, one of the Ellice Islands, a great deity is supposed to have
+made models of man and woman out of the earth and brought them to life
+by lifting them up. Similar in general conception is the tradition of
+creation among the Pelew Islanders who believe that certain of their
+deities made man and woman out of clay by kneading it with the blood
+of various animals. This feature is a new detail and somewhat of a
+departure from the general story. It shows, moreover, the interest
+which these primitive people had in explaining the different behaviour
+of their fellow men. Thus they believed that the characters of these
+first men as well as their descendants were due to the characteristic
+traits of the animal whose blood was mingled with the clay. Men, for
+instance, who had rats’ blood in their clay were thieves. Those who had
+serpents’ blood were sneaks and informers. Those who were vitalized by
+cocks’ blood were brave and daring.
+
+According to a Melanesian legend in one of the Banks Islands, the great
+hero Qat molded men from red clay taken from the marshy riverside. At
+first he made men and pigs to appear alike, but subsequently he forced
+the pigs to go upon all fours and caused men to walk upright. This
+distinction indicates man’s early recognition of the subtle meanings of
+the erect posture. Qat also constructed a female out of flexible twigs.
+Finally she smiled at him, and by this unfailing sign of feminine
+allurement he immediately recognized her as the first woman.
+
+Inhabitants of the Kei Islands believe that their ancestors were
+fashioned out of clay by the supreme god who breathed the breath of
+life into the clay models. The Dyaks of British Borneo claim that the
+first man was made by two birds. After several failures in attempting
+to hew him out of rock they at length molded him out of damp clay and
+infused into his veins the red gum of the Kumpang tree. When they
+called him he answered, and they gave him a name which in the Dyak
+tongue means “molded earth.”
+
+In India also the same kind of legend explains man’s origin. The Kumis
+who inhabit the hill tracts in eastern India believe that a powerful
+god made the world and the trees and the creeping things first. After
+this he made a man and a woman, shaping their bodies from clay. When
+he had finished his work a great snake came while the god was sleeping
+and devoured the two images. This occurred several times, so that the
+deity was much perplexed. Feeling that after his day’s work he needed
+a good night’s sleep, it was impossible for him to sit up to protect
+his handiwork. At length he conceived the plan of making a dog out of
+clay before he created his next models of man and woman. This device
+solved the problem in a satisfactory manner. The god was now able to
+sleep in peace after his hard work of modelling human beings, since the
+dog, watching over them, would bark and frighten away the destructive
+serpent. To this day the Kumis believe this is the reason why dogs howl
+when a man is dying.
+
+Africa has similar legends about the creation of mankind. Many of the
+natives on the White Nile believe that men were modelled out of clay.
+They even go so far as to explain the different complexions of various
+races by the differently coloured clay out of which they are molded.
+Their great creator, wandering about the world, found pure white earth
+or sand and from this he fashioned the white man. Returning to Egypt he
+molded red and brown men from the mud of the Nile. Finally, coming upon
+black earth far in the depths of Africa, he created black men.
+
+The story of man’s creation out of clay also occurs in America among
+the Eskimos and the Indians from Alaska to Paraguay. Many of the
+Eskimos have the belief that a certain spirit made a man of clay. Then
+having set him upon the shore to dry he breathed into him and gave him
+life. Certain Indians of California conceive of an all-powerful being
+who created man out of a deposit of clay which he found on the shores
+of a lake. From this clay he made both male and female, and the Indians
+of the present day are descended from this original clay man and woman.
+
+The Mayas in Central America believe that their gods first made men out
+of clay, but that these clay models lacked vitality because they were
+dissolved by water. Then the gods created man out of the wood of one
+tree and the woman from the sap of another. Unfortunately these human
+beings could neither move nor propagate their kind, and for this reason
+the gods caused a shower of pitch to produce a flood, which destroyed
+this wooden race. A few of them survived, however, and from them are
+descended the small monkeys. The Maya gods at last created four perfect
+men out of yellow and white maize, and, wishing to confer the greatest
+boon, while these four perfect beings slept, four women were created
+for them.
+
+
+_Primitive Ideas Foreshadowing Evolution_
+
+It is interesting also to find that all savage people did not believe
+in the legend that ascribed the origin of man to clay models or to
+effigies made by some supreme being. Many primitive races appear to
+have preferred the theory of evolution to this other idea of creation.
+In any event, even if they did not fully recognize the nature of their
+belief, their idea was that man evolved from some lower form of animal
+life. The particular form of animal from which this evolution started
+varied considerably with the local colour, with the character and with
+the opportunities of different people.
+
+Some California Indians believe that they are descended from coyotes.
+In their early stages of evolution all members of their tribe walked on
+all fours. Slowly they acquired some of the features of human beings,
+one toe or one finger at a time. Then came an eye or an ear, until at
+length these animals grew to be perfect human beings by losing their
+tails. This loss, which was regarded as deplorable, came from the habit
+of sitting upright.
+
+The Iroquois, belonging to one important clan, hold that they are the
+descendants of mud turtles that formerly inhabited a certain large
+pool in their territories. The Choctaw Indians believe that they
+were descended from crayfish, while throughout the Osage Indians it
+is generally understood that their ancestors were a male snail and a
+female beaver. A great flood carried the snail down the Missouri River,
+leaving him upon a bank, where the sun ripened him into a man. In time
+he met and married a beaver maid, and these two were the ancestors of
+the Osages. The Delaware Indians call the rattlesnake their grandfather
+and would on no account destroy one of these serpents.
+
+Certain Indians of Peru claim to be descended from the puma or American
+lion, and this animal is worshipped as their god. Some natives of East
+Africa look upon the hyena as one of their ancestors. The death of this
+animal is mourned by the whole people with great funereal ceremony. On
+the Gold Coast of West Africa certain tribes believe that they were
+descended from the horse mackerel.
+
+Natives of Borneo think that the first man and woman were born from a
+tree which had become fertilized by a creeping vine that waved to and
+fro in the wind. Some of the primitive inhabitants in the northeastern
+extremity of Celebes believe that they are descended from apes and
+that the parent stock of these animals still inhabits the woods. The
+aborigines of western Australia considered that their ancestors were
+swans, ducks, or various other kinds of water birds, which were later
+transformed into men.
+
+All of these illustrations of the creation idea among primitive people
+show that man has held at least two widely different views about his
+own origin. One of these is the idea of separate miraculous creation;
+the other corresponds to or foreshadows the theory of evolution. In
+accordance with the view of separate creation, a god or a tribal hero
+was the great creator who fashioned the first members of the race
+in their present form. According to the other view, man was evolved
+from lower forms of animals, or even from vegetable life. These two
+viewpoints of man’s origin still divide the peoples of the world. It
+is probably true, as Sir James Frazer has said, that “by weighing one
+consensus against the other, with Genesis in the one scale and the
+Origin of Species in the other, it might be found, when the scales
+were finally trimmed, that the balance hung even between creation and
+evolution.”
+
+The development of the evolutionary theory among civilized people has a
+long history. This theory has already passed through many interesting
+phases. Doubtless other equally interesting phases lie before it. At
+present there are many who still believe that Darwin was the originator
+of the evolutionary idea. This belief is in no sense true. The origin
+of the doctrine long antedates Darwin’s time. It may be traced back to
+the age when the human race first began to think clearly. Like many
+other things of high cultural value, it had its earliest recognizable
+beginnings in the Greek period--in those days when man sought to gain
+an intelligent understanding of himself and the world in which he lived.
+
+
+_Growth of the Evolutionary Theory_
+
+The basic conception of evolution is as old as Empedocles (450 B. C.).
+Aristotle (384-322 B. C.) was the originator of the theory of animal
+descent, which he formulated with remarkable clearness. A strong
+inhibiting influence fell upon this conception of life as a result of
+mediæval scholasticism. This influence restrained further developments
+until the subject was again reopened in the Eighteenth Century. The
+works of Leibnitz and Buffon (1707-1788) reawakened interest in this
+problem. Modern constructive efforts to formulate the theory of
+evolution did not begin, however, until the early Nineteenth Century.
+By a strange coincidence, the real founding of this theory occurred in
+the year of Darwin’s birth, 1809. Up to this time, with few exceptions,
+it was thought that man’s body was the result of special creation. Some
+savage people, as we have seen, have believed that man was derived from
+lower animals. But this belief was only a fantastic forerunner of the
+evolutionary concept. The birthplace of the theory was in Paris. It
+may appear strange that such a doctrine did not originate in the great
+schools of learning, and that it first saw the light in the quiet,
+out-of-the-way location of the Museum of Natural History. The names
+of three scientific immortals are associated with this revolutionary
+conception of the animal kingdom. All three of these distinguished men
+lived at the same time, worked together at the same place, and together
+profoundly influenced our modern views of man’s place in nature.
+
+The most noted of this famous trio in his own day was Cuvier
+(1769-1832). He was a professor of comparative anatomy and though only
+forty years of age was accumulating the material for his epoch-making
+work, _Ossements Fossiles_. This work was to show conclusively that the
+great ages of time, filled with multitudes of strange, extinct animals,
+had passed over the earth before the dawn of our modern era. Cuvier
+believed that each group of these extinct animals represented a series
+of separate creations. It was doubtless his energetic and brilliant
+insistence upon this point that denied to the French nation the first
+place of distinction in advancing the theory of evolution. Although
+he held vigorously to the old creative interpretation of life, Cuvier
+was in a sense an unconscious promoter of the evolutionary idea. His
+recognition of a succession of epochs in the earth’s history and in
+the animal inhabitants of the globe was an important step toward the
+modern theory. Besides this, his keen powers of observation had enabled
+him to discern one of the chief principles underlying evolution. This
+principle is known as the law of “correlation of parts.” In consequence
+of this law there is a definite relation of one part of the body to
+another, as well as a combination of these parts in the habits of the
+animal. Thus, horns belong with hoofs, and hoofs are associated with
+complicated grinding teeth, which latter in their turn are possessed by
+animals having complex stomachs and feeding on plants.
+
+The second great pioneer in the discovery of life’s true origin was
+somewhat younger than Cuvier. This was Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. He
+was intent upon seeking the common plan upon which all animals with
+backbones were built. In this way he was laying the foundations of that
+broad conception of life which holds that all living things have a
+common descent.
+
+The third of these great French contemporaries was more obscure
+than either of his associates in the Museum. In his own period the
+public heard and knew little of him. He was a retiring person, but
+an indefatigable student. As time passes it is he who stands as the
+towering figure of this famous trio. In 1809, when he was already
+sixty-five years of age, he made his remarkable contribution to
+knowledge. His careful studies of nearly fifty years were then
+published in two small volumes entitled _Philosophie Zoologique_. This
+was a milestone in human progress. In consequence of this work alone
+the name of Jean Baptiste Pierre Lamarck will stand as one of the most
+eminent figures of science. From his long and laborious researches he
+had reached the conclusion that all living creatures were the outgrowth
+of a common tree of life. In this treatise of his there appears the
+first clear declaration that man has been evolved from some anthropoid
+ancestor like the chimpanzee, and that man’s erect posture has been
+derived from one which was ape-like.
+
+
+_The Lamarckian and Darwinian Theories_
+
+The Lamarckian theory of evolution holds that progress takes place by
+the imperceptible transformation of one species into another through
+the efforts of the organism to adapt itself to new conditions. It also
+maintains that, by inheritance, the changes thus produced are handed on
+from one generation to the next. These changes may be slight, almost
+insensible variations produced by the use or disuse of certain parts
+and organs. Through their accumulated effects they are capable of
+transforming one species into another. The following quotation from
+Lamarck’s _Philosophie Zoologique_ (Vol. 1, p. 349) furnishes some of
+the more important details in the concept by which he explains the
+evolution of man:
+
+  Indeed, if any race of primates (quadrumanes) whatsoever,
+  particularly the more highly evolved of them, were to lose, either
+  from force of circumstances or any other cause, the aptitude for tree
+  climbing and of grasping the branches with their feet, as with their
+  hands, for security of grip, and if the individuals of this race,
+  for a series of generations, be obliged to use their feet only in
+  walking, and cease using their hands as feet; then there is no doubt,
+  from the evidence produced in the foregoing chapters, that these apes
+  would finally be transformed into man (bimanes) and that the great
+  toe would no longer be separated from the other toes like a thumb,
+  the feet merely serving the purposes of progression.
+
+Despite the fact that Lamarck was a pioneer he did not, in so far as
+the evolution of man is concerned, induce a single anatomist of his
+own time or of a succeeding generation to follow in his footsteps.
+In this respect his great work remained strangely ineffective. The
+more persuasive introduction of the evolutionary theory was made by
+an illustrious English naturalist, Charles Darwin. After a somewhat
+mediocre university career, for which he received the degree of
+Bachelor of Arts, Darwin devoted himself to the natural sciences. In
+his early manhood he spent five years on the famous barque _Beagle_
+in which he made a trip around the globe. Twenty-three years later
+(1859) he published his renowned _Origin of Species_, which proved to
+be one of the most revolutionary books ever written. In an educational
+sense, Darwin was far more fortunate than Lamarck. Almost at once he
+obtained the ear of the public and started the theory of evolution
+on its strenuous course around the world. Twelve years later (1871)
+he published his second monumental book, _The Descent of Man_, which
+proved to be the most telling step in our modern knowledge of man’s
+evolution. These two great books set forth the Darwinian theory. Like
+Lamarck, Darwin believed that progress from lower to higher forms of
+animal life took place as a result of insensible variations. These
+variations were due to what Darwin and one of his contemporaries,
+Alfred Russell Wallace, called natural selection. This factor was the
+prime and sufficient cause of evolution. Through its operations new
+species arose by the selective action of external conditions upon
+individual variations. Natural selection, as a law, implies the effects
+of those forces which separate living creatures into two groups--those
+which survive and those which, being ill equipped to make the struggle
+for existence, perish. The selective effects of external conditions
+on an organism or its parts operate in such a way that individual
+variations or peculiarities of advantage are perpetuated in the race
+and thus give rise to the survival of the fittest. Darwin in his
+_Descent of Man_ makes clear his opinion of the manner in which natural
+selection has operated in human evolution:
+
+  As soon as some ancient member (elsewhere defined as some species
+  of anthropoid like the chimpanzee) in the great series of the
+  primates came to be less arboreal, owing to a change in its manner of
+  procuring subsistence, or to a change in the surrounding conditions,
+  its habitual manner of progression would have been modified and
+  thus it would be rendered more strictly quadrupedal or bipedal....
+  Man alone has become a biped and we can, I think, partly see how he
+  has come to assume his erect attitude which forms one of his most
+  conspicuous characters.... As the progenitors of man became more
+  and more erect and their hands and arms more and more modified for
+  prehension and other purposes, with their feet and legs at the same
+  time transformed for firm support and progression, endless other
+  changes in structure would have become necessary. The pelvis would
+  have to be broadened, the spine peculiarly curved, and the head fixed
+  in an altered position, all which changes have been attained by man.
+  It is very difficult to decide how far these modifications are the
+  result of _natural selection_ and how far of the _inherited effects_
+  of the increased use of certain parts or of the action of one part on
+  another. No doubt these means often coöperate.
+
+Comparing the explanations given by Lamarck and by Darwin it is
+clear at once that they have much in common. Both suppose that man
+was evolved from a chimpanzee-like anthropoid. Both agree that the
+transformation had been initiated by a change from an arboreal to a
+terrestrial mode of existence. Both believe that the results of habit
+or of function acquired by one generation may be inherited by the next
+generation. Darwin made certain important additions to this theory.
+He applied the law of natural selection--the tendency of successful
+individuals to survive and prosper. He also recognized the effects of
+sexual tendencies and perceived that there was a law of correlation of
+parts. By this latter mechanism a number of structures were modified at
+the same time to suit some particular function of the body.
+
+Since Darwin’s time, although the general principle involved in the
+theory of evolution has been accepted by scientists everywhere,
+there has been much discussion concerning specific details of the
+evolutionary process. Simultaneously with the conviction that evolution
+was a fact in the animal life there arose an eager desire to discover
+its underlying causes. Many students of the problem have arrived at
+independent explanations of their own. To some the theory of Lamarck
+has been considered satisfactory; to others Darwin’s interpretation
+is most convincing. Such differences of opinion as do exist among
+those who have seriously pursued this matter centre primarily upon the
+causes of evolution. For this reason a number of different theories are
+recognized to-day. It is probable that these theories do not represent
+all of the differing shades of opinion concerning this subject at
+present. They may be said, however, to express the high points of
+difference. Their chief interest lies in the fact that they indicate
+the degree of energy and determination devoted to the solution of
+this problem. Recent students of the Darwinian theory have modified
+and extended it in such a way as to make the law of natural selection
+entirely sufficient to explain evolution. Such students, with Weismann
+the most prominent among them, deny the inheritance of acquired
+characters. This view is known as the neo-Darwinian theory.
+
+Lamarck’s original conception was also modified and became the basis of
+the neo-Lamarckian theory. This view recognized all of Lamarck’s ideas,
+including insensible variation, use and disuse of parts, and hereditary
+transmission. But it added to these causative factors certain
+influences of consciousness and the will, thus introducing an internal
+and psychological principle in the evolutionary process. In America
+this newer view of Lamarck’s conception has been vigorously upheld by
+many naturalists (Cope and Hyatt) who attempted to explain evolution
+according to the fundamental laws of growth plus the inherited effects
+of use and disuse.
+
+Explanations such as these seem to lose sight of many influences acting
+upon animal life from without and along certain determinate lines.
+These influences were highly specific in their character and embraced
+definite chemical and physical factors. Their effects were concentrated
+upon limited organic areas, such, for example, as the eye, but they
+spread to correlated organs like the brain, the muscles, and the bones,
+all of which are functionally continuous with the visual apparatus of
+vertebrates. Such a spread of modifying influences from a determinate
+focus like the eye throughout the entire body caused a widespread
+tendency to variation and thus afforded the opportunity for progressive
+development. This explanation is known as the Orthogenetic Theory
+(Eimer, 1897).
+
+Still more recently the pendulum has swung away from this extremely
+materialistic viewpoint in what is called the Creative Theory of
+Evolution (Henri Bergson, 1907). According to this explanation the
+variations that bring about evolution from lower to higher forms of
+life require some good genius to preserve and collect the effects in
+the interest of progress. This presiding genius working from within
+is the original impetus of life, the _élan vitale_, or vital impetus
+(entelechy), which like some internal perfecting agency passes from
+one generation of germs to the next and through the developed organism
+bridges the interval between generations.
+
+Philosophy, with its conception of an internal creative power common
+to all life and biology, pinning its faith to physicochemical factors,
+have vied with each other in bringing to light the causes of evolution.
+Among the latest explanations is the Energy Theory (Henry Fairfield
+Osborn, 1918). This interpretation holds that the life of every animal
+is due to the action, reaction, and interaction of four types of
+energy. The first type arises from chemical elements and compounds
+surrounding the animal (inorganic environment). The second is the
+energy derived from the body substance of the developing organism
+(protoplasm and body chromatin, the chief substance in the nucleus
+of body cells). The third source of energy is from the sex cells,
+especially those parts of them which contain the hereditary elements
+(hereditary chromatin). The fourth type of energy comes from the
+living matter surrounding the animal (life environment). Selection and
+adaptation are constantly at work upon the reactions of these four
+types of energy. Divergence in the form of different animals depends
+upon adaptations to special conditions of life as seen, for example,
+in the whales and the meat-eaters. Altogether there are twelve major
+environments for living, like the plain, the forest, the air, the sea,
+which require special adaptations. All life has tended to radiate out
+into such habitat zones, and the four types of energy represented by
+each living creature have been adjusted to a particular environment.
+This spreading out of life into many different zones of existence is a
+recognized principle in natural selection (law of adaptive radiation.
+Osborn).
+
+The most recent interpretation is that offered by the Emergent
+Theory of Evolution (C. Lloyd Morgan, 1928). Evolution, according to
+this explanation, is the name given to the plan of sequence in all
+natural events. Orderly sequence presents from time to time something
+genuinely new. In the physical world emergence is exemplified by the
+advent of each new kind of atom, each new kind of molecule, each new
+form of life. Emergence is not the mere addition to or subtraction
+from existing properties. It is the appearance of something new and
+unpredictable from the combination of properties already in existence.
+A true emergence of this kind is produced by the combination of carbon
+and sulphur out of which the gaseous carbon bisulphide arises. This gas
+is totally different from either sulphur or carbon, its two combining
+ingredients. It is something genuinely new and hence an emergent. This
+principle affects all spheres of life in such a manner that it is
+possible for new characters, new structures, new activities to appear
+as emergents from preëxisting elements. Variations and progressive
+development may be thus explained as the result of orderly sequence.
+
+In spite of the differences in opinion among scientists concerning
+the evolutionary process, there is an almost unanimous agreement with
+regard to the correctness of the general theory of evolution and the
+principle underlying it. To attempt a critical estimation of these
+several theories would be futile and far removed from our present
+purpose. Doubtless each one of them contains some portion of the truth.
+It is, however, their large number that is of striking significance,
+inasmuch as these theories indicate a widespread, profound, and growing
+interest concerning evolution among intelligent people. Whatever their
+minor differences, such theories demonstrate a determined effort in the
+search for truth and manifest tendencies in thinking which cannot fail
+eventually to reshape the intellectual outlook of mankind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+BIRTHPLACE AND EARLY BEGINNINGS OF MAN
+
+INFLUENCES OF FOREST AND PLAIN ON BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
+
+
+The place of man’s origin is a matter of little significance if he came
+into being by a creative miracle. Any one of a hundred natal sites,
+chosen for reasons of local pride or racial prestige, might have served
+the purpose. Eden undoubtedly was most colourful, but otherwise it had
+no exceptional advantages. Once created and upon his feet, man had the
+world before him to conquer and possess. Such was the beginning and end
+of his story.
+
+If, on the other hand, the human race came through evolution from lower
+forms of animals, then man’s homeland is of utmost significance. It
+must have exercised a strong influence not only upon his origin but
+also upon all his life and progressive development.
+
+
+_Africa, Europe, or Asia_
+
+Some students of this subject have regarded Africa as the most likely
+birthplace of man. According to this view the human form first appeared
+as certain Nilotic negroes. From this homeland man spread throughout
+the world. On the other hand, the accumulating fossil evidence of man’s
+existence seems to be strongly in favour of western Europe as a centre
+of human dispersal. Professor Osborn points out that between the years
+1823 and 1925 there were discovered in this part of the world alone no
+less than 116 individuals belonging to the Old Stone Age or to the Dawn
+Stone Age. Two of these were members of the Piltdown race. Fossils of
+forty other individuals belong to the Neanderthal race. Seventy-four
+are accredited to the Cromagnon and other races that lived in late
+Stone Age times. Remains of 236 individuals belonging to races that
+lived between the end of the Old Stone Age and the beginning of the New
+Stone Age were also found. These fossil men, in all 352 individuals,
+have been discovered within the last hundred years. During the same
+period, a little more than a century, only one human fossil has been
+found in the entire continent of Asia, one in the Holy Land, and two
+in Africa. Such a great preponderance in numbers clearly favours
+Europe as the home of primitive man. Africa, Asia, and those parts of
+Oceania formerly connected with the Asiatic continent, have borne no
+such abundant evidence of man’s early presence. Both the northern and
+southern continents of the New World have revealed nothing as yet that
+may be accepted as representing man in his early prehistoric period.
+This survey of the globe seems to limit the first appearance of man to
+European regions. In this connection it should be borne in mind that
+the various countries of Europe have been carefully explored in the
+search for early human fossils, while in other parts of the world the
+search is little more than just begun.
+
+Northern Asia has also been regarded as likely to contain the site of
+man’s birthplace. This has been the view of certain French authorities
+who consider the Eskimos as the most ancient northerly race of mankind.
+From this homeland there was a progressive southward migration of
+primitive tribes under the influence of the severe conditions imposed
+by northern glaciation. More recently attention is being directed to
+central Asia as the birthplace of man. This locality was suggested long
+ago by the great American scientist, Joseph Leidy, and this viewpoint
+has been supported by Professor Osborn. Dr. Matthews in considering
+the matter of climate and evolution discussed the origin and migratory
+history of man. He believes that Asia was the centre of dispersal
+for human migrations, which were among the last of great migratory
+movements of animals in the history of the world. It is his opinion
+that most scientists to-day would place this centre in or about the
+Great Plateau of central Asia. In this region, now barren and very
+sparsely inhabited, are probably the remains of civilizations more
+ancient than any yet recorded. Immediately around this region and lying
+upon its borders are the territories of the earliest civilizations
+known to man. Chaldea, Asia Minor, and Egypt lie to the west, India to
+the south, China to the east. From this central region came successive
+migrations, which overflowed into Europe during prehistoric, classical,
+and mediæval times. The history of India shows that similar invasions
+poured down upon it from the north. Toward the east, invasions in
+successive waves entered the Chinese Empire and North America by way
+of Alaska, spreading southward over the two continents of the New World.
+
+
+_The Top of the World_
+
+Since his recent visit to Mongolia, Professor Osborn is strengthened in
+his conviction that central Asia will prove the homeland not only of
+man but of all the greater forms of mammal life. Here, he believes, in
+the Gobi Desert, were the ideal surroundings for the early development
+of Dawn men who were the direct ancestors of the human race. His
+belief in this part of the world as the birthplace of man depends
+upon certain characters in the terrain which are essential to racial
+development, concerning which he reasons as follows: Man’s earliest
+existence was mainly in the open either along river bottoms and river
+drifts or on uplands and plateaus. Such a life developed the finest
+physical qualities of the race. The earliest man could not have been a
+forest-living animal. Such parts of the human race as lived in forested
+lands have either been exceedingly slow in their development or have
+gone backward. Thus, the South American Indians, living in the forests,
+are much behind those who live in the open. Of the latter, those who
+live in the uplands are further advanced than those who lived in the
+river drifts. An alert, progressive race cannot develop in a forest,
+and it would be impossible for such country to serve as the centre of
+human radiation. Higher types of men do not develop in a lowland river
+bottom country, because food is plentiful and vegetation luxurious. It
+is upon the plateaus and the high uplands that life is most exacting
+and calls for exertions which are most beneficial for development.
+Mongolia was probably a region forested only in part, certainly not
+a country of dense forests. It was a most favourable upland country
+throughout the entire Age of Mammals. Here the conditions of life
+were apparently ideal, and since all other indications point to Asia
+as the place of man’s origin, Professor Osborn looks to Mongolia and
+Tibet, which he calls the top of the world, as the most favourable
+centre offered by nature for the birthplace of man. Here he has hopes
+of finding our remote human ancestors. He is, however, guarded in this
+view, which he feels must be treated merely as an opinion. It is not
+yet a theory, but is, however, an opinion sufficiently sound to warrant
+further extensive investigation. In consequence, several great Asiatic
+expeditions have been sent out by the American Museum of Natural
+History into the Gobi Desert. Under the leadership of Dr. Roy Chapman
+Andrews this exploration was undertaken in the search for fossil men.
+One of the explorers, Dr. Nels C. Nelson, soon made the remarkable
+discovery that in the wide expanse of this ancient desert there had
+lived, ages ago, certain people whom he called “dune dwellers of the
+Gobi.” His discovery included a great collection of flint implements
+of the Mousterian type, closely resembling those found in the cavern
+of Le Moustier in France, and thus belonging to the Old Stone Age.
+These newly discovered implements reveal the existence of man at a
+much earlier period in the Gobi Desert than the Mousterian period in
+Europe. Indications of an earlier Stone industry were also found in
+Mongolia. Some of these ancient implements show that long ago there
+were probably men living in this part of the world who belonged to the
+Dawn Stone Age.
+
+The latest evidence in favour of Asia as the home of primitive man
+was supplied by a surprising fossil discovery made by Turville-Petre
+(August, 1925). This new find consists of a skull of Neanderthal type,
+discovered in Palestine and known as the “Galilee skull.” The rapidly
+accumulating discoveries of the past three years sustain Professor
+Osborn’s view that central Asia is the homeland of the human race.
+He concludes that “while the anthropoid apes were luxuriating in the
+forest and lowlands of Asia and Europe, the Dawn men were rising in the
+invigorating atmosphere of the relatively dry plateaus of central Asia.”
+
+
+_Home Surroundings Necessary to Human Evolution_
+
+If, as a result of evolution, man took origin from lower animals,
+these must of necessity have been mammals nearly like himself. They
+must have borne and nursed their young as he did. Mammals other than
+the primates differ so much from man that they could scarcely stand
+in the direct line of his origin. How different from him are all of
+the great races of hoofed animals, including the great varieties of
+cattle, horses, deer, camels, giraffes, and elephants. All of these
+are highly specialized and seem at once to exclude themselves even
+as remote relatives of man. So it is also with the pawed animals, the
+great families of dogs, cats, rats, and hares. These are definitely
+quadrupeds, clearly designed to meet the issues of life upon four
+legs. They fail to disclose anything resembling a near approach to
+man, either in form of body or mental capacity. The winged animals
+like the bats, strange specializations of the mammal kind, bear little
+resemblance to the human form and offer a poor beginning from which
+such a form might start. The swimming mammals, like seals, whales, and
+porpoises, also exclude themselves from direct connection with the line
+of man’s ancestry. In fact, all mammals must be put to one side in
+considering this question, except a single remarkable group. The apes
+and their kind alone bear an undeniable semblance to men both in body
+and in behaviour. Many of their parts are similar to the human, such
+as their hands and feet, fingers and toes all equipped with nails, as
+well as their thumbs which may be held against each finger in turn.
+The apes have acquired a more or less erect posture. Some of them,
+called manlike apes (anthropoids), possess so many characteristics
+in common with man that they alone of all animals might be regarded
+as connected with the direct line of origin. If this relationship be
+true, then the nature and location of man’s original homeland is of
+profound significance. Wherever this place may be, it should bring into
+combination two distinctly different types of home surroundings. It
+should provide this combination in order that the apes might supply the
+last long step by means of which man has ascended into humanity. These
+two different but essential types of abode are:
+
+1. Home surroundings favourable for ape life.
+
+2. Home surroundings favourable to human life.
+
+A third condition must bring these two elements into final combination.
+These specialized surroundings must be relatively near together, so
+that transition from one to the other may readily take place. Does
+Mongolia and particularly the Gobi Desert fulfil all of these three
+conditions?
+
+According to Professor Osborn’s theory, the uplands and plateaus are
+the most favourable places for human development. Such being the case,
+we must also agree, then, that the forests are equally essential to
+the life of apes. Only a few of these animals have adjusted themselves
+to life outside of wooded country. Living in the trees, therefore,
+is the existence that favours the life of the subhuman primates
+(lemurs, monkeys, and apes). The forest provides the home surroundings
+favourable for ape life, just as the plains afford those conditions
+favourable to human life. Does such proximity of these two essentials
+exist in the region of the Gobi Desert? Mongolia is not a densely
+wooded country. It is a territory forested only in parts. In this light
+it does not seem to be an ideal locality for the final transition from
+ape to man. To explain this defect, Professor Osborn at present holds
+that man in evolving had but a brief and very distant phase of tree
+life. He believes that the quadrumanous arboreal stage was extremely
+remote in geologic time. It was never a profound or exclusive mode
+of life. There are those, on the other hand, who firmly maintain that
+in this ape to man transition a long intermediate period of tree
+living was necessary in order to bring about those changes in the
+primate stock which laid the foundations for human existence. This
+life in the trees was essential to determine the erect posture of man,
+to free his hands ultimately for purposes other than locomotion; in
+fact, to free them so that they might become the chief incentives in
+the further development of the human brain. Even from this viewpoint,
+Mongolia may still be considered the homeland of mankind. The forested
+lands throughout its extent and upon its borders might well serve as
+adequate surroundings for the development of life during that critical
+intermediate phase when the first ancestors of men had parted company
+with the apes and had at length become humans.
+
+With many animals there has been a strong tendency to take refuge in
+the trees. The chief object of this tendency was to make life more
+secure either by escaping danger or by obtaining food. But with the
+coming of the ape kind this arboreal habit took a somewhat new turn. It
+furnished the early members of the monkey kind a permanent abode. Such
+a change to a more or less fixed dwelling in the trees produced marked
+modifications in the animals themselves. It created a new type of home
+and developed a new kind of thoroughfare over highways in the tree
+tops. In order to acquire a proper equipment for such transportation,
+both fore and hind paws became grasping organs. In consequence these
+animals developed four hands. They gradually gave up the older pattern
+of paw and claw, and by developing a new instrument connected with
+the arms and legs they acquired a supreme facility for grasping the
+branches of the trees. The tail also, in some cases, acquired similar
+grasping powers. Thus, as the trees became the home and the highways of
+these animals, their four grasping hands and their grasping tails gave
+them a mastery over the forest which they used to their own peculiar
+advantages.
+
+The forest background of their lives played an important rôle in the
+molding of their behaviour. The perpetual semidarkness of their home
+surroundings exerted a subtle influence upon them. It might be that
+the forest in which they lived stood on the edge of a wide plain with
+a clear opening from which to look into the farther distances outside.
+Undoubtedly there must have been an alluring temptation in the green
+plains and their inviting freedom. Yet for these tree-living animals to
+venture into this open space was a hazardous undertaking. There were
+many dangers lurking in the plain and over it. Fierce creatures of
+every kind were there. Reptiles, mammals, and birds, all of them beasts
+of prey, were lying in wait for just such an adventuresome excursion.
+So for the time at least, and until they were better prepared to cope
+with the enemies outside, the semidarkness was safer, even though the
+view were limited and many interesting things were left unexplored.
+
+
+_Effects of Tree Life_
+
+The lemurs were probably the first of these new tree-living animals.
+Their bodies were still slender and furry, their heads long and
+fox-like, their eyes widely separated, and their tails long and bushy.
+But in their hands and in their feet they showed the real beginning of
+fingers and toes. This stage marks the transition from some lower form
+of mammal to the primates (lemurs, monkeys, apes, and man). It was a
+profound change, and in it the new order of primates had its origin.
+The steps preceding this important one we shall consider subsequently.
+But with this advance there began a period of tree living which
+influenced all of these animals as they and their successors passed
+through their many stages upward. The little animal known as Tarsius,
+perhaps even more than the lemurs, shows the effects of these new
+influences caused by tree-living habits. The monkeys of South America
+reveal the manner in which the next step forward was taken. The effects
+of it appear in the shape of the head, in the almost human expression
+of the face, in the closer relation of the eyes to each other, and
+in the shape of the nose and the position of the mouth. All of these
+features prophesy the coming of the still more manlike apes. Above
+everything else, these South American monkeys are conspicuous in the
+history of development because of their almost human hands, and also
+because of their hand-like feet. Most of the members of this group
+acquired prehensile or grasping tails. With the appearance of the Old
+World monkeys, this tail began to wane in importance. It lost all of
+its grasping power and was reduced to much the same condition as in
+other animals not of the monkey tribe. Some of the Old World apes, such
+as the gibbons, developed the ability to stand and walk upright. In
+addition to this erect posture these apes had passed through another
+phase that brought them nearer to man. They had lost their tails.
+This had come about, doubtless, from their habit of sitting upright.
+The erect posture of the gibbons, however, was most important as a
+forerunner of further developments in the great manlike apes, the
+orang-outang, the chimpanzee, and the gorilla. These animals had grown
+so large that for most of them living in the trees was a matter of
+some inconvenience. It was necessary for them to come to the ground
+at times, because they found it difficult to swing from tree to tree
+like the smaller monkeys. Of the great manlike apes, the orang-outang
+still adheres rather closely to the forest. The chimpanzee, which
+has developed even greater cleverness in climbing, seeks the ground
+oftener. He has learned to walk upon all fours, using the knuckles
+of his hands as a support in this act. Like the orang-outang, he can
+stand up quite erect and walk like a man. Finally the gorilla, the
+largest of the manlike apes, often attains the size of nearly four
+hundred pounds in adult life, and standing erect may reach the height
+of nearly six feet. He also is able to walk upright. But the influences
+of tree living are so strong even with the gorilla that he has not
+yet made a good adjustment for life upon the ground. If it were not
+for the prodigious strength in his great arms it would be difficult
+for him to take to the trees, and he thus shows a betwixt and between
+specialization, not entirely suitable for the ground and too large for
+security among the trees.
+
+All of the manlike apes are capable of standing and walking in the
+upright posture, but in this posture they are awkward and inefficient.
+Their awkwardness is due to the fact that the foot in all three of
+them retains many characters of a hand. None of them has a good foot
+for effective heel and toe walking on the ground. Yet in spite of the
+handicaps in their poor feet, in spite also of their long, ungainly
+arms, these apes are able to venture beyond the limits of their forest
+home. Some of them live in the plains or on the mountain sides. By
+their great strength they are equipped to cope with many of the dreaded
+enemies outside of the forest. The orang-outang seems to have no
+natural enemies because of its own great offensive power. Only two of
+the larger reptiles presume even to attack it--the crocodile and the
+python. According to the natives of Borneo, the orang always succeeds
+in killing the crocodile through main strength by standing upon its
+back and opening its jaws until he is able to tear out its throat.
+It is reported that if attacked by the python, the orang seizes the
+reptile with both hands, squeezing it with such force and biting it
+so ferociously that the outcome of the combat is soon decided in
+favour of the anthropoid. The gorilla also has conquered most of its
+antagonists in the animal world, and is regarded as the most powerful
+and the most dangerous brute enemy of man. All of these apes have
+acquired a certain freedom in using their hands, which are thus made
+available for acts of self-defense and even for a considerable degree
+of exploring their surroundings.
+
+Progress in the direction of mankind had its beginning when the
+tree-living tendency of the apes began to recede. The recession of
+such tree life paved the way for those first indecisive but promising
+steps which took the great apes out of their ancient forest homes into
+the inviting plain. Finally with the complete passing of tree life
+there began that long and adventurous journey which was to lead over
+every sea and into every land, until no region of the earth remained
+for further conquest, until the full development of the hand and the
+upright posture had more and more bent the forces of nature to the
+designs of the races of man.
+
+
+_Stages in Developing the Erect Posture_
+
+The advances made toward mankind through the intermediate stepping
+stones of the great apes and smaller monkey kind may be traced through
+successive stages of tree life up to the time when the fully erect
+posture became an accomplished fact. These stages have been recognized
+as a result of exhaustive studies made by Professors Gregory and
+Morton. They consist of gradual changes which finally gave rise to the
+human foot. This structure permitted man at length to stand upright and
+thus gave him the free use of his hands for constructive purposes.
+
+The first stage came in the Eocene (beginning of the Age of Mammals,
+about 65,000,000 years ago). At this time certain four-footed
+land-living animals began to live in the trees. This arboreal life had
+profound effects upon the fore and hind paws. In order to climb among
+the branches a clinging grip was necessary. Long, sharp claws developed
+in consequence of this requirement. The digits of the paw were short
+and the palms well padded. The thumb also was short but not opposable.
+As yet there was no squatting or half-sitting posture. The toes were
+likewise short and clawed. The heel was lifted off the ground. The sole
+was well padded and the great toe large. These four-footed animals
+made only an imperfect adjustment to tree life. Their movements were
+slow and their range of action correspondingly limited. The tree shrew
+is a good living example of such animals, while certain fossils of
+the Eocene belonging to this type have been described by Professors
+Matthews and Gregory.
+
+The second stage in developing transportation came with certain light,
+lemur-like animals. They were still slow and cautious in getting
+about and depended upon a clutch-like grip. This new kind of grasping
+produced long digits like fingers. The toes were changed in the same
+manner, so that the feet began to look more like hands. (Living
+examples of this stage, _Loris_ and _Lemur potto_.)
+
+The third stage was a more decisive advance since transportation
+through the trees now combined the advantages of climbing and leaping.
+Locomotion was swifter and more effective. A tendency to a partially
+erect posture developed, and squatting or sitting up was tentatively
+established. All of the fingers became much longer. Most of them had
+finger nails, so that these animals at last possessed what might be
+called a hand. Changes of the same type took place in the toes. The
+thumb and the great toe became more powerful and both were opposable.
+They could be brought in contact with each of the other fingers or
+toes in turn. In these animals the hands were now well formed and the
+feet looked much like hands. It is for these reasons that such animals
+are called quadrumanous (four-handed). (Representative animals of this
+stage, _Lepidolemur_ and _Notharctus_.)
+
+The fourth stage was but a short step from leaping and climbing to
+swinging from branch to branch or running along the branches. This
+swinging by the hands is called brachiation. It had far-reaching
+influences upon all subsequent stages. Such swinging naturally
+lengthened and strengthened the arms. It produced a better grasping
+grip around the branches and caused the fingers to grow longer. The
+thumb did not participate in this increase of size. It actually was
+reduced in strength and prominence. This is true in most of the New
+World monkeys. In some of these, like the spider monkey, the thumb
+has disappeared altogether. It should be remembered that most of
+these animals had a prehensile tail which they used much like a
+fifth hand. The foot also developed a grasping grip and looked if
+anything even more like a hand than before. All of the South American
+monkeys, besides their ability to swing from the limbs of trees, can
+run along on the top of the branches in what is known as “pronograde”
+locomotion. But their swinging propensity probably had the greatest
+influence upon the final developments of transportation. It tended to
+bring the body in a close approach to the upright position. Many of
+the Old World monkeys sat in a semi-erect sitting posture, and from
+their habit of squatting developed thick pads (ischial callosities)
+over their buttocks. The leg became lengthened but was yet too much
+flexed at the hip to permit of the most complete erect posture. This
+stage is represented both by the New World and Old World monkeys, with
+the exception of the baboons. These latter animals are an interesting
+variation. They more or less deserted the old custom of living in the
+trees. Their bodies and heads assumed many dog-like characters, and
+they returned to a four-footed ground-living type of locomotion. In
+consequence their limbs became shortened, as was also true of their
+fingers and toes. All of these important changes took place in the
+early part of the Oligocene (second period in the Age of Mammals,
+probably 30,000,000 years ago).
+
+The fifth stage occurred much later in this period when another
+decisive advance was introduced. For one thing, the tail entirely
+disappeared. The legs became more extended at the hip. Swinging from
+branch to branch was the chief means of getting about. This produced
+extremely long arms and hands, and because this swinging mode of
+transportation was predominant it kept the trunk more and more in the
+upright position. Such straightening up of the body introduced the most
+positive influence toward standing erect up to this time. The legs
+did not grow in proportion to the arms, and the feet retained a close
+resemblance to hands. On the ground such animals as these could make
+their way with considerable speed, standing upright and running much as
+man runs. The only difference between this kind of gait and that of the
+human was due to the great length of the arms and the poor feet.
+
+This stage in the development of the upright posture is often seen in
+motion pictures of those animals which portray this particular phase
+of locomotive advance. These are the remarkable apes known as gibbons.
+Those familiar with them in the zoölogical gardens, or in moving
+pictures, will remember the peculiar way in which they run upright,
+holding their long arms stretched out much like balancing poles. Thus
+erect, they speed about in getting their food or playing with other
+monkeys. Their upright gait is awkward but extremely interesting.
+Once, however, they get into the trees their locomotion has all the
+grace of a bird in flight. This gibbon stage of development was one
+of extreme importance, since it gave the primates preceding man their
+first chance to stand upon two feet and to run about in something
+like human fashion. It is this stage that many authorities consider
+indispensable in the final working out of the human erect posture
+and human locomotion. Many students of this question also believe
+that the upright posture could never have been attained unless animal
+life had passed through that particular phase in the development of
+transportation called brachiation. It seems certain that this stage
+itself was dependent upon a preceding and extremely long period of life
+in the trees.
+
+The sixth stage developed early in the Miocene (third period of the
+Age of Mammals, about 15,000,000 years ago). One of its chief factors
+was a great increase in the body weight of the apes. This greater
+weight caused the animals to come nearer to the ground, as is the
+case of the chimpanzee and the gorilla. These animals actually spend
+much time upon the ground. In consequence, it was necessary for them
+to make certain transportation adjustments. Their locomotion in the
+trees was still of the brachiating type--that is, they depended largely
+upon their arms for swinging. The arms thus became long and powerful.
+When the gorilla stands erect his hands hang below his knees. The legs
+are relatively short, but the feet in consequence of living so much
+on the ground look less like hands than in the lower apes. They have
+well-recognized broad heels, but flat soles without much of an arch.
+The lesser toes are human in appearance. They are much shortened and
+have little resemblance to the fingers of a hand. The great toe is
+shorter and only in a slight degree opposable. This is especially so in
+the mountain gorilla, in which the great toe bears a striking likeness
+to the same part in man. The flexion of the leg at the hip is somewhat
+decreased and as a result the gorilla is able to stand upright in
+almost human fashion. All of these changes appear, to a less degree,
+in the chimpanzee also. Both gorilla and chimpanzee are able to stand
+erect, to walk, and even run in this posture. Their gait, however, is
+awkward. They are greatly hampered in their locomotion by the extreme
+length of their arms. Usually in getting about on the ground they run
+upon all fours, using their arms somewhat like crutches and coming
+down at each step on the knuckles of the flexed hand. When aroused
+or charging to the attack, the adult male gorilla usually stands
+upright and beats its fists upon its chest, at the same time emitting
+a terrifying growl. When it is necessary for the animal to make speed
+in flight or for other purpose, it usually comes down upon all fours.
+Arboreal locomotion in all of the three great apes still retains much
+of the brachiating type. It thus requires the retention of the hands as
+part of the locomotor apparatus. Tree life in the chimpanzee and the
+gorilla, combined with partial use of the ground, did much to develop
+the essentials of the erect posture. It did not, however, free the
+hands to that extent which permitted their exclusive use for purposes
+more constructive than transportation. However strong the inclination
+toward life upon the ground may have been in the manlike apes, they
+were committed long ago by their predecessors to a life in the trees.
+This commitment still kept them true to their kind and to their simian
+inheritance. If they were to be more than apes, it was necessary for
+them to shed the stigma that tree life stamped upon them. This the
+modern apes were never able to accomplish.
+
+
+_The Parting of the Ways_
+
+At length, however, in spite of many obstacles, the tendency toward
+the erect posture found a new opening. It was the foot that led the
+way to this great opportunity. It provided an efficient supporting
+structure with a well-developed heel, a non-opposable great toe, and a
+sole containing an effective longitudinal arch. Man could at last stand
+upright and be secure upon a capable pair of feet. At some period late
+in the Miocene two branches from the stock of those animals, which had
+managed to get into something approaching the upright posture, parted
+company. This was a critical juncture. Thenceforth one branch proceeded
+one way and the other followed an entirely different course. The apes
+accepted the trees as their lot. Man, because of his two human feet and
+what they supported above them, acquired the earth and all it contains.
+Thus with tree life a thing of the past, with a true ground-gripping
+foot, with longer legs, with an actual erect posture, the hands were
+finally liberated for the purposes of human success.
+
+The development of the human foot, which must have been in progress
+through vast periods of time, marks the decisive parting of the ways
+between the apes and the races of men. It is doubtless true that the
+specialization of the hand has been a potent influence affecting the
+expansion of the brain and of brain power. The hand itself, however,
+was ultimately dependent for its free and unhampered use upon the
+development of the foot. This great factor was the forerunner of all
+those elements in structural organization which finally brought about
+the erect posture, which set the head upon the shoulders so that the
+eyes might look forward and upward, and at length made it possible for
+the eyes to guide the actions of the hands.
+
+Step by step, the brain has kept pace with these progressive
+alterations. Old and new parts of it alike bear the imprint of
+adaptive change. The combinations determined by life in the trees and
+by the development of four hands have been worked out through graded
+stages, from the humblest of the monkey kind up to man. Beginning
+with the lowly tarsius and lemurs, this advance may be traced through
+intermediate phases to its ultimate goal in the human brain. Mongolia,
+as many authorities agree, may have been the land that saw man’s
+earliest beginnings. Whatever his homeland, a long period of tree life
+was necessary to develop in his predecessors those specializations by
+which he rose to his allotted position. It is in the tree-life part
+of man’s history that we see the dawn of the primate brain; for it
+was then there occurred the earliest exploits of that great order of
+mammals, the primates, to which all the monkeys, the great apes, and
+man belong.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+DAWN OF THE PRIMATE BRAIN
+
+THE LOWEST OF THE MONKEY KIND
+
+
+We are now approaching a critical period in the history of the brain.
+It is a period that contains many incidents of the utmost importance.
+Particularly noteworthy are the episodes which favoured the production
+of human characteristics in the animal kingdom. These characteristics
+showed many manlike tendencies that much later were to appear full
+fledged in the human race. They were from the first limited to a
+single, highly interesting order of mammals. And this seems especially
+strange because from the beginning of the Age of Mammals (65,000,000
+years ago) a great variety of new animals came into existence. The
+fact that a single group out of all this vast number was picked out
+to develop human resemblances must hold the secret of some potent
+selective influence. Such an influence was definitely at work. Its
+operations were slow but steady. Little by little it changed and
+reshaped the structure of the body until at length there appeared a
+race of animals so human in their organization that they might well
+have been the forerunners of mankind.
+
+It would be difficult to conceive the kind of modification in structure
+that could produce the form of man from a horse, from a whale, or
+even from a dog. But this difficulty becomes far less in the case of
+the animals usually referred to as the monkey kind. In many features
+of their structure these animals resemble men. Existing in a great
+variety of forms, they manifest numerous modifications in the different
+parts of their bodies and exhibit a wide range of behaviour in their
+habits. Only a superficial acquaintance with them is necessary to
+reveal their many progressive traits. But their progress, like all
+other progress, had its humble beginnings. At first the apes were
+very simple creatures. Their coming, however, marked the dawn of a
+new day in animal life. We shall be interested to follow the advances
+that occurred in their mental capacities as they slowly made their
+progressive strides forward. We shall be particularly struck by those
+changes which gradually led up to the development of a brain capable to
+control all of the complex activities of human behaviour.
+
+Naturally we may expect to find a simple controlling organ in the
+lowest of the monkey kind. As we pass upward, however, into the higher
+families of the apes, we shall not only observe a pronounced increase
+in manlike tendencies but, as the great anthropoids at length become
+human in miniature and then almost human, we shall recognize in these
+animals a brain which very closely resembles that of man.
+
+
+_Class Distinctions in the Monkey World_
+
+In the ape world there are animals of high and low degree. Some are
+so humble that it is hard to decide whether they actually belong to
+the monkeys or not. With few exceptions they all prefer to live in the
+jungles and tropical forests. We could not fail to be impressed by
+the striking resemblance that many of them bear to man. Yet there are
+such marked differences among them that they cannot all be regarded as
+members of the same family. If we grouped them as we do human races,
+we might most advantageously assign them to certain large classes
+according to their nearness to man.
+
+Monkeys of lowest degree include the lemurs, the tarsiers, and all of
+the New World monkeys.
+
+The intermediate monkeys in the next higher grade are those which live
+in the Old World, with the exception of the three great manlike apes.
+
+The higher anthropoids occupy the top rank and are the nearest to man
+both in their appearance and in their habits.
+
+These three ranks in apedom did not appear at the same time. One rank,
+so to speak, successively developed from another. By a process of
+selection and adjustment the higher forms arose from the lower. The
+ranking great apes owe their superiority to many traits and characters
+which they inherited from more humble forerunners and which they
+improved by the process of progressive development. The lowest monkeys
+likewise had their day of upward progress, during which they emerged
+from some mammal still lower in the animal scale. These forerunners of
+the earliest primates, the lemurs and tarsiers, had in all probability
+been gradually specializing during the latter part of the Age of
+Reptiles. Their ancestors came from that stock of mammal-like reptiles
+which started from lowly beginnings and remained modestly in the
+background during the reptilian period.
+
+
+_The Lemurs_
+
+In the endeavour to get some conception of these distant predecessors
+of the monkeys and apes, it is believed that the tree shrews possess
+those simple characters necessary for the proper starting point.
+The shrew is an insect-eater and lives in the trees. It has many
+specializations in its legs, in its head, and in its trunk. These
+special adjustments might serve as the beginning of those important
+changes in the body which later distinguished the monkey kind. In
+the first place, the small size of the tree shrew was particularly
+favourable for this purpose. Then, in the second place, its habit of
+living in the trees foreshadowed advantages of great promise. Such an
+epoch-making adjustment made its appearance when paws were replaced by
+hands and when definite hand-like feet appeared. If an animal like the
+tree shrew were the forerunner of the monkeys, it is not difficult to
+appreciate how the lemurs arose from this stock. They and their kind
+may be looked upon as the first chapter in the history of the ape world
+and the ape brain. At present they live exclusively in Madagascar and
+its small adjacent islands. They are not known in any other part of
+the world, although fossils of them indicate that they were widespread
+throughout the globe in earlier times. The reasons for their present
+exclusiveness and their insular homes are not clear. Geologists claim
+that the parts in which they live originally had land connection with
+the continent thus permitting their wide dissemination. The later
+disappearance of this connection accounts for their present isolation.
+
+There is much in the appearance of the lemurs that distinguishes them
+from the monkeys and apes. Their most distinctive feature, the head,
+is much like that of a fox and is drawn out in a long pointed muzzle.
+Many characters appear in lemurs not seen in monkeys. They have no
+cheek pouches. Their tails, never prehensile, are usually furry. They
+develop no gluteal pads, which many apes possess in consequence of
+their squatting postures. It is in their hands that they resemble
+monkeys most strikingly. They have fingers and toes with finger nails
+and toe nails. The thumb and great toe are always well developed, but
+the second or third digit is often greatly modified. They also have
+mammary glands like the monkeys. In the female these glands assume
+certain definitely human characters. The lemur is a little smaller than
+the domestic cat. Its fur is thick and woolly. Its large and prominent
+eyes are more widely separated than in monkeys. The ears are long and
+have tufts of hair on their upper portions. The arms are not quite so
+long as the legs. The tail is long and often bushy. Fleshy pads appear
+on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, as well as upon the
+palmar surface of the fingers. These enable the animal to grasp the
+branch of a tree with great tenacity.
+
+Little is known of the lemur’s habits in the wild state. It is not
+strictly nocturnal, for some of these animals are known to seek their
+food during the day. Often they travel about in troupes consisting of
+many individuals. Most of them live in the forest. Their food consists
+of fruits, insects, birds’ eggs, and birds themselves, which latter
+they are most skillful in catching. During the heat of the day they
+sleep with the head beneath the arm and the tail curled about the neck.
+When walking they go upon the hands and feet, both when on the ground
+and in the trees. The tail is used in the manner of a balancing or
+steering organ. Sometimes they assume a semi-erect posture on the hind
+legs, or sit in a half-crouching position. Both hands and feet are
+employed primarily for climbing or running about on the ground.
+
+The lemur has great ability in leaping from tree to tree. Its movements
+are so rapid that it can only with difficulty be followed by the
+eye. Hunters say that it is easier to kill a bird on the wing than a
+lemur when leaping. If pursued and shot at it has a habit of dropping
+suddenly from the topmost branches into the bushes, giving the hunter
+the impression that he has succeeded in killing the animal. This
+impression is soon dissipated upon seeing the lemur in another tree
+at a considerable distance from the spot where it fell. When wild the
+animals are said to subsist largely upon bananas. They also seem to be
+fond of the brains of birds. After fracturing the bird’s skull with
+their teeth, as they might puncture a nutshell, they suck the brain out
+of the brain case. The lemur, however, does not eat the rest of the
+bird. We may see from this description that this is an animal of great
+agility. Not only does it possess much speed in its locomotion, but it
+also manifests the utmost nicety in balancing and remarkable precision
+in all movements.
+
+
+_Tarsius_
+
+Another of these lowest monkeys is a strange little animal called
+tarsius, which has acquired a notable reputation. Several learned
+authorities have singled it out as the standard bearer of human origin
+from some lower mammal. The tarsius is about as large as a small
+squirrel. Its appearance is peculiar because of its closely set bulging
+eyes, its long tufted tail, its protruding ears, and the small circular
+pads on the end of each finger and toe. Tarsiers have two curious
+habits that attract attention at once. They can leap with astonishing
+swiftness from tree to tree, often in pursuit of insects, and when they
+turn their heads they seem at one instant to be looking forward and the
+next directly backward. Their eyes, though very large and prominent,
+do not seem to give them the best of eyesight. The animals can see
+well at night, but during the day they appear to be almost stupid
+because in the sunlight their vision is imperfect. Tarsius lives in
+the jungle, usually in the low countries of the Malay Islands. During
+the day it passes most of its time clinging in a vertical position to
+the trunks of the smaller trees and underbrush. The way in which it
+supports itself is interesting and peculiar. With its fingers and toes
+it firmly grasps its slender support, at the same time pressing inward
+with its long tail, which acts like a spring against the tree. If its
+tail is pulled away from this support the tarsier at once tends to slip
+backward. The tail, which has no grasping power, is used like a rudder
+for balancing and steering when the animal is in motion.
+
+In some respects tarsiers are quite human. They go about in pairs and
+are not gregarious like most of the monkeys. Furthermore, they give
+birth to but a single offspring at a time. After the breeding season
+the female and her young find a home by themselves. There are no
+indications that these animals build nests or even live in holes of
+trees. The tarsier often falls asleep in its characteristic clinging
+position, and the head then sinks downward much as that of an old
+man asleep in his chair. Often the young tarsius will perch upon the
+mother’s head while she is asleep, and in this position fall asleep
+itself. The general behaviour of the animal is extremely stereotyped
+and limited. It learns but little under training. In captivity it is
+able to make but few new adjustments. During the day its enormous
+bulging eyes give it an almost ridiculous appearance as it gropes
+awkwardly for food. This no doubt is due to the fact that its eyes are
+constructed for hunting at night and do not contain the specialization
+essential to the sharpest kind of vision. On the ground tarsius leaps
+like a frog but is very awkward. In the trees, however, it is extremely
+agile, and is probably the quickest jumper of all mammals. While
+grasping a small branch it can turn its head so as to look directly
+backward and jump more quickly than the human eye can follow. It seems
+to be looking in one direction and jumping in another. This is due
+to the great rapidity with which it turns its head. In captivity it
+is pugnacious and cannot be tamed. It performs its toilet much as a
+cat does and thus keeps itself scrupulously clean. It is not known
+to make vocal sounds indicating fear or anger. On rare occasions,
+and particularly when young, it has been heard to squeak. The infant
+tarsius clings to the hair of the mother’s chest like other young
+monkeys. The eyes are open at birth, and many reactions appear at once
+that are long delayed in such animals as the rat, cat, dog, and higher
+apes.
+
+
+_The Marmosets_
+
+Another lowly monkey is the marmoset. It has less renown than tarsius
+but is nevertheless an interesting animal. It is often carried
+around in the pocket of its owner and fits conveniently inside of
+the old-fashioned fur muff. The marmosets belong to the group of the
+New World monkeys. They inhabit South America and Central America.
+Their chief interest arises from the fact that they represent one of
+those moments of faltering experienced by the monkeys in their upward
+strivings. These little animals have an almost pathetic expression
+and features that are in many ways quite human. Yet in spite of this
+human-like appearance they indicate an actual backsliding in the
+attempts at progress. This backsliding is most apparent in their
+fingers and toes. In fact, the entire hand and foot have lost most of
+their human resemblance. The finger nails are now replaced by sharp,
+talon-like claws, and the toes are equipped in the same way. The
+marmosets, both because of their diminutive size and the imperfections
+in their hands and feet, are now looked upon as monkeys that show signs
+of retrogression.
+
+The marmoset is as large as a small squirrel and covered with a thick,
+silky fur. It is naturally very timid but soon becomes friendly to
+those with whom it is familiar in captivity. The female produces
+two or three young at a birth and in this respect is unlike most of
+the monkeys. The marmoset’s facial appearance and shape of head are
+certainly more ape-like than the lemur’s. The eyes are set much closer
+together, and are separated by a flat, narrow nose suggesting that
+vision now depends on the simultaneous operation of both eyes. The
+animal has a long, bushy tail. It lives in the tree tops or small
+underbrush and climbs the trees in a manner similar to the squirrel.
+Although it has a cat-like agility, it does not make the long and
+daring leaps characteristic both of lemur and tarsius. It often loses
+its grip on the branches and falls from a considerable height to
+the ground. In captivity it shows little inclination to develop new
+actions. It is not easily trained, and to teach it to do tricks of any
+kind is most difficult. It lives upon worms, insects, and fruit. It is
+known also to invade birds’ nests and suck the eggs. Very rarely does
+it prey upon bird life and then only when it is able to overpower one
+of the smaller birds or unprotected young.
+
+
+_South American Howling Monkeys_
+
+In this group of lower monkeys we encounter one with a highly
+interesting personality, known as the “red howling monkey of South
+America.” He is a real monkey, noisy and disagreeable, often attaining
+the size of a fox-terrier. He always seems to be in an unpleasant
+mood, showing his teeth and howling on the slightest provocation. In
+spite of all this ill temper, he belongs to the progressive party
+of the monkeys. There is not the slightest doubt that he has made
+definite advances along the lines of progress. If we should question
+this progress we would soon have our doubts set at rest when we saw
+the astonishing manner in which he uses his tail like a fifth hand.
+Even more convincing in this respect is the almost human appearance of
+his hands. Not long ago a young woman visiting the ape house in the
+zoölogical gardens was struck by these human similarities. She was
+still more impressed when a large howling monkey thrust his long tail
+through the bars and deftly tossed her hat into the air.
+
+The howling monkeys enjoy this gift of a capable, grasping tail in
+common with most of their fellows who live in South America. The
+prehensile tail is especially well developed in the spider monkeys
+and in the woolly monkeys. At its end this tail looks like a long,
+tapering finger. It is a highly developed sense organ and gives the
+monkey a new instrument for locomotion and for exploring. These monkeys
+are able to swing themselves from the branches by their tails and thus
+leave the hands and feet free for other purposes.
+
+In addition to this highly efficient tail, the howlers have developed
+a larynx and vocal cords with which they produce awe-inspiring sounds.
+Their mournful howlings are often audible for miles around, and it
+is supposed that they employ their cries as a means of defense to
+intimidate their enemies. The howling monkeys possess a slightly
+opposable thumb and well-developed fingers. While they are described as
+being the most ferocious of the South American monkeys, they are also
+credited with a low degree of intelligence. The face of this monkey is
+naked with the exception of a heavy beard that hangs beneath the chin.
+In captivity they are practically untamable and soon die. Their fur is
+usually black, but in some cases is brown or reddish brown. They live
+largely upon fruit, although like other South American monkeys they
+feed upon caterpillars and insects.
+
+
+_Measuring the Mentality of New World Monkeys_
+
+Professor Thorndike, of Columbia University, has made careful studies
+concerning the behaviour of several South American monkeys. He was
+chiefly interested in the manner in which monkeys differ from other
+animals in the mental capacities and methods of learning. In making his
+tests he devised certain experiments which utilized boxes with pegs,
+bolts, bars, and hooks. The object of these tests was to find out how
+the animal learned to release itself from confinement, or gain access
+to a goal containing food. Professor Thorndike concluded that these
+monkeys did not learn by reasoning. They do, however, form more and a
+greater variety of associations than other mammals. Their combinations
+of this kind are remarkably slow and ineffectual in providing any new
+behavioural accomplishment. Concerning the general mental development
+of the South American monkeys, Dr. Thorndike believes that they
+represent a certain advance from the generalized type of mammals
+toward man. This is particularly true of their sense equipment and
+their localized vision. All of this, he believes, is in reality an
+advance due to the brain acting with increased delicacy and bringing
+into line those activities which distinguish human mental faculty from
+that of all other animals. Here, at length, among the lower monkeys is
+well-attested proof of some progress toward the development of human
+capacity.
+
+
+_Monkey Behaviour_
+
+The way in which these lower members of the monkey kind behave deserves
+particular attention. It gives us the opportunity to observe certain
+striking resemblances to our own human behaviour. This question
+is one of primary importance. It acquires especial interest as we
+compare the brains of the monkeys and apes one with another. As the
+brain continues to improve from one stage to the next, we should be
+on the lookout for new developments in behaviour. It might perhaps
+be impossible to appreciate all of these minute changes among the
+monkey kind. It is even somewhat questionable whether such an exact
+comparison at the present time is necessary or possible. Yet there
+are certain outstanding traits of conduct that may be easily traced
+from stage to stage. One of the most important of these traits depends
+upon the development of the tail from the time when it first acted as
+a rudder-like organ for steering and balancing the animal until it
+acquired all of its great facilities as a fifth hand. After this it
+began to recede in importance and finally disappeared. The tail thus
+created a special cycle of behaviour which had important bearing upon
+the final outcome of man’s adjustment.
+
+Another group of reactions centre upon the manner in which the hand
+made its appearance, including the progressive changes in behaviour
+when the monkeys first became four-handed. All of these changes
+were dependent upon living in the trees and gradually found their
+culmination in an animal that could stand upon two feet and use its
+hands. Such usage as this foretold the beginning of human skill, of
+human right-handedness, and of human speech.
+
+Very important were the changes in behaviour that made their appearance
+as the eyes worked more in harmony with each other. They produced a
+kind of vision better able to guide the movements of the hand and
+give more complete information concerning distance, direction,
+and perspective. But far exceeding all other changes for getting a
+better control over the surroundings were those progressive advances
+introduced for making the fullest combinations of sense impressions.
+These advances favoured the development of better powers for learning
+and for profiting from experience. Progress in all of these particulars
+concerning the behaviour of the monkeys may be clearly traced in
+corresponding expansions in their brains.
+
+
+_Brains of the Lower Monkeys_
+
+In the brains of these four very simple members of the monkey kind
+we may readily see the expansions that promoted development in the
+governing organ. It will be apparent at a glance that progress followed
+no direct or easy path. It met many rebuffs and obstacles. Often it
+faltered and even stumbled. But struggling on it finally reached solid
+ground and then went forward to real advances.
+
+Placing the brains of the lemur, tarsius, marmoset, and howling monkey
+side by side we may see how this progress began. To guide our way in
+following this advance, certain signposts and milestones will prove
+serviceable. Three of these landmarks are deep grooves or clefts. They
+appear in the superbrain and indicate the places in which progress has
+been particularly active. Around these grooves the outer covering of
+the superbrain has been folded to make room for more brain cells. This
+folding produces convolutions with the result that the more convoluted
+a brain is, the more cells it has for the development of brain power.
+Each of these three grooves has its own special meaning as a landmark:
+
+1. The “Sylvian groove” is a fissure that runs between the department
+for the sense of hearing, called the “temporal lobe,” and the
+department for body and contact sense, called the “parietal lobe.”
+
+2. The “central groove” is a fissure between the department for body
+and contact senses and the department of supreme brain activity, called
+the “frontal lobe.” This lobe of the brain is situated immediately
+above the eyes and behind the bone of the forehead (frontal bone). A
+small frontal lobe means a low brow with a correspondingly inferior
+mentality. As this lobe of the brain increases from ape to man, the
+forehead gradually becomes higher and more prominent.
+
+3. The “ape groove” separates the occipital lobe in the back of the
+head from the parietal lobe. In the occipital lobe is situated the
+department for sight.
+
+The three grooves form the boundary lines between the four chief
+departments of the superbrain, each of which is known as a lobe;
+namely, (1) the parietal lobe, department of body and contact senses;
+(2) the temporal lobe, department of hearing; (3) the occipital lobe,
+department of sight; and (4) the frontal lobe, department of the high
+mental faculties like judgment and reason.
+
+Further advances from this point will occupy our attention in tracing
+the brain of the monkey kind upward. Two other landmarks in the
+brain have special value. One of them is the bridge (pons) which
+connects the larger brain (cerebral hemispheres) with the lesser
+brain (cerebellum). This lesser brain acts as the chief muscle timer
+and adjuster. It balances one muscle’s action to that of another and
+adjusts the force of such action. All of our most exact movements,
+whether in walking or writing or speaking, depend upon the little
+brain. If it is injured or destroyed the movements of our hands and
+feet, head and trunk, become shaky, unsteady, and very irregular. For
+an animal to become highly skillful requires high development in the
+little brain. The animal having the highest intelligence also possesses
+the greatest capacity for skill in its actions. The size of the bridge
+reflecting the degree of this skill is a good index of the intelligence
+possessed by the animal.
+
+The pyramid is another important indicator of progress. Like the
+bridge, it is found on the base of the brain. It is called pyramid
+because of its somewhat pyramidal shape. It acts as the main trunk
+line for getting the orders of the superbrain out to the muscles.
+It transmits, so to speak, the highest commands of the brain in
+controlling the motor machinery. By means of it we act according to the
+dictates of our wills. If both of these great pyramidal trunk lines
+are interrupted, we become completely paralyzed. The pyramids conduct
+the highest output of the brain’s activity and increase in direct
+proportion as the animal’s behaviour becomes more and more complex.
+
+The brains of low monkeys are of small size: lemur, 18 grams; tarsius,
+6 grams; marmoset, 6.2 grams; and howling monkey, 24.5 grams.
+
+Size and weight of brain, we must bear in mind, vary to a considerable
+degree with the size of the body, so that certain other signs of
+expansion in the brain are more impressive. These signs clearly
+indicate that progress is under way as follows: First, the large
+superbrain begins to cover over the lesser brain. In lemur this
+extension backward has only just begun. It is only slightly more
+marked than in many of the lower animals, like the cat and the dog.
+In tarsius the large brain has extended backward over the lesser
+brain to a considerably greater degree. This is an important change
+because the tarsier has transferred much of its business of sight to a
+new department in the occipital lobe of the superbrain. The marmoset
+shows this transfer carried a little farther, for the large brain now
+overhangs the lesser brain. The great advance shown in the howling
+monkey reveals the way in which the superbrain has taken complete
+control of the situation. It now covers over the lesser brain entirely.
+All of this change in the superbrain has been mainly in the interest of
+making a better department for sight, but the departments for the sense
+of hearing and for body and contact senses have not been behindhand in
+expanding in these lower monkeys.
+
+Another pronounced sign of progress is the gradual change in the
+position of the groove of Sylvius. In lemur it is almost vertical,
+as in the cat, in the dog, and other lower mammals. The arrangement
+of other smaller grooves around it is also similar to that in lower
+animals. In the tarsius this groove is equally primitive. It is
+beginning to tip backward a little in marmoset. Finally, in the howling
+monkey this groove has become quite oblique, as it is in most of the
+apes and man.
+
+All of this change has occurred as a direct result of perfecting the
+organization in the department of hearing. The more tilted the Sylvian
+groove becomes, the better developed is the temporal lobe which carries
+on the business of hearing. The tilting backward of this groove also
+results from an increase in that part of the superbrain which lies
+immediately about the groove. This is the parietal lobe, the department
+of contact and body sense. It is in this department that the especially
+important information concerning the movements in the hands and feet
+is registered. Thus the tilting backward of the Sylvian groove plainly
+tells the story of improvements in the departments of hearing and of
+body and contact sense.
+
+Still another sign of progress appears in the central groove, which
+has an equally interesting history. In the lemur this groove is just
+discernible as a faint dent. In position it resembles a corresponding
+groove in animals like the cat and dog. Lemur in this respect suggests
+that in its striving to part company with the lower animals, to break
+away from ancient contacts, and to get on an independent new line of
+its own, it has not been entirely successful. This central groove
+shows where the chief department of the superbrain begins, that is,
+the frontal lobe. In the lemur this department is poorly developed.
+In tarsius it is impossible to find anything that looks like a central
+groove. This animal’s brain is an example of some of that hesitation
+which was encountered in the path of progress. The same faltering
+is also seen in the brain of marmoset, which has no central groove
+whatsoever. These little South American animals, it must be remembered,
+are thought to be backsliders, and this particular defect in their
+brain strongly supports that conclusion.
+
+In the brain of the howling monkey we find the central groove now
+well developed. The superbrain shows that it is at length pursuing
+some definite policy of expansion in its most responsible department.
+Emphasis in growth is now obviously given to the frontal lobe for
+advancing the capacity to transact all higher mental faculties. In the
+howling monkey this department may not have attained any high degree of
+development, but its presence is undoubted, and from this relatively
+simple beginning it is only a matter of further expansion to bring
+into existence the most productive mechanism of the brain. The howling
+monkey shows its superiority over all lower monkeys in another respect.
+It has developed the ape groove, and by it the boundary between the
+department of sight and the department for body and contact sense is
+fully established.
+
+Viewed as a whole, the brains of these four lower monkeys show distinct
+progress in the interests of developing a more efficient superbrain.
+Each of the sense departments has gradually become better defined in
+its boundaries, and doubtless correspondingly better organized for
+the administration of its duties. Rising supreme above them all there
+finally appeared the controlling department of the chief executive
+in the frontal lobe. We see this in its earliest stage in lemur. It
+assumes still more importance in the howling monkey. The departments of
+sight (occipital lobe), of hearing (temporal lobe), of body and contact
+sense (parietal lobe), show the effects of steady improvement from
+lemur up to the howling monkey. If there have been some hesitations,
+even some slipping back in the organization of efficiency, it is
+because some of these animals were rather uncertain disciples of
+progress. They may have been, as is probably true of tarsius, too
+close to the starting point where the real advances of the monkey kind
+began; or perhaps, like the marmosets, they ran into early difficulties
+along the upward climb. It seems probable that they were not able to
+extricate themselves with credit from these hazards or to overcome
+the obstacles that confronted them. For this reason their brain shows
+some actual backwardness. With these exceptions, however, the evidence
+of progress is undisputed. It seems sufficient to convince the most
+sceptical. The purpose of the progress is also sufficiently plain. It
+clearly appears to be that effort toward promoting organization in
+the superbrain so that the offices of the supreme executive might be
+established in the permanent quarters of the frontal lobe.
+
+
+_Measurable Improvements_
+
+Any doubts due to lack of measurable proofs may be easily overcome
+by several comparative measurements of the bridge and the pyramid.
+The size of these structures, both of which reveal the behavioural
+capacities of animals, has been carefully estimated. Accordingly the
+bridge has been assigned the following values: lemur, .055; tarsius,
+.057; marmoset, .095; howling monkey, .103. Thus the bridge, called
+by some authorities an index of intelligence, shows distinctly the
+advances made among these simple monkeys.
+
+Quite as striking are the figures for the pyramid, which indicate the
+degree of voluntary control that the superbrain has over all actions:
+lemur, .110; tarsius, .032; marmoset, .064; howling monkey, .137.
+
+From these figures the howling monkey stands in advance of his monkey
+associates in the index of his voluntary control. Doubtless much of
+this advantage is due to the high degree of hand-like specialization
+in this animal’s hands and feet. But the grasping tail of the howling
+monkey should not be overlooked. If tarsius and the marmoset appear to
+stand lower than the lemur, it is because one of them is a primitive
+type of animal with a much restricted repertoire of reactions, and the
+other, the marmoset, is a backslider less richly endowed in the more
+effective motor capacities.
+
+All of these features in the brain seem to coincide with progress
+in the behaviour of the lower monkeys. They show the path which
+progressive advance has pursued. In the beginning, emerging from those
+strivings of lower mammals and with much of the mammalian heritage
+handed down by them, the lemurs took the first step of the monkey kind
+toward a new type of brain. There was prophecy in these early attempts
+made by the lemur. In some degree at least they foretold what this new
+kind of brain was to be. Obviously they had as their distant mark the
+ultimate upbuilding of the superbrain until an adequate department for
+the supreme executive of life was produced. If tarsius hesitated in
+reaching out toward this objective, it was none the less travelling in
+the right direction. The destination of this course was clearly visible
+in the brain of the howling monkey and other similar monkeys of the
+New World. In this manner the first primate steps toward a more highly
+efficient type of brain were taken. The conditions of tree life both
+incited and successfully urged them onward.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+ON THE WAY UPWARD
+
+BRAINS OF THE OLD WORLD MONKEYS
+
+
+We have seen that the first steps leading to improvements in the
+primate brain were taken by certain humble creatures living in distant
+parts of the earth, and by the great tribes of the New World monkeys
+inhabiting South America and Central America. These steps did not lead
+far along the path of progress. They were only a beginning, the first
+harbingers of man’s arrival. Many lowly animals in the ape house at the
+zoölogical gardens reveal numerous features suggestive of the human
+being. Such features not only include their fingers, finger nails, toes
+and toe nails, but even more their facial appearance. Many of these
+monkeys look like diminutive old men. They snarl and show their teeth
+when angry. Their way of indicating displeasure is almost human. They
+make certain expressive gestures, like nodding or tilting of the head
+to one side in a quizzical or even pathetic manner. They make plaintive
+cries or sounds, in some cases almost like the notes of a bird, or they
+scream out loudly in anger. All of these New World monkeys are notable
+for one other reason. They do not make any of those humorous grimaces
+that are so amusing in the Old World monkeys. These latter manifest a
+certain drollness in their constantly changing facial expression.
+
+The Old World monkeys include about three quarters of all living
+species. They are embraced in one great family, but the members of this
+family show many differences ranging from the huge dog-faced baboon to
+the small bonnet monkey. Some of them are gentle and affectionate, some
+are savage, pugnacious, and treacherous. This entire family is spread
+out over the hot or semitropical regions of the world. Many of its
+members live in the damp, tropical forests; others prefer rocky, almost
+barren country, and a few seek their homes in temperate climates. Some
+monkeys are found among the lower ranges of the Himalayas and may be
+seen in the winters playing among the branches of snow-laden trees. Two
+varieties seem to have a surprising endurance in really severe cold.
+They inhabit the elevated regions of eastern Tibet.
+
+In picturing to ourselves the characteristics of a monkey we are apt
+to have the conception of an animal that can hold on and hang by its
+tail. None of the Old World monkeys has this kind of tail. The greatest
+number of them live in the trees, and the tail, while generally short
+and stumpy, in some cases is decorative and almost plume-like. Most of
+the Old World tribes are especially interesting and amusing because of
+a large elastic pouch in each cheek. This pouch the monkey greedily
+crams with food in his haste to get his meal into safe-keeping. When
+the cheek pouches are filled both cheeks are bulged out and give the
+animal somewhat the appearance of a gourmand embarrassed by a mouthful
+of delicacies. Later on, at his leisure, the monkey chews and swallows
+the food.
+
+
+_Baboons_
+
+By far the largest of the Old World monkeys are the baboons. They may
+be recognized at once by three characteristics. The head and face look
+much more like those of a dog than is true of other monkeys. They have
+long and dangerous fangs in the upper and lower jaws. They go about,
+like most four-legged animals, upon hands and feet which have much the
+appearance of paws.
+
+Further acquaintance with the baboon shows him to be a surly,
+unmannerly, savage, and thoroughly undependable creature. All of his
+tribes have fleshy pads over the buttocks, which in some cases are
+large and brilliantly coloured. Some members of his clans, such as
+the mandrill, have faces which look like gruesome masks or hideously
+painted savages. The skin over the nose is a fiery red, while the
+cheeks are swollen, ribbed, and of a vivid blue colour. A beard of
+golden hue hangs beneath the chin in contrast to the dull olive drab
+of the body. Protruding over the lips are savage canine teeth, long
+and dagger-like. These baboons are about as large as a good-sized
+dog. The colouring of the face adds considerably to the repulsive
+unattractiveness of the animal. They run along on their hands and feet,
+with their eyes directed downward, so that they are obliged to elevate
+the large overhanging eyebrows in order to look upward and forward.
+They go about with the palms of the hand and soles of the feet laid
+flat upon the ground. The mother is often seen walking or scampering
+around with a young baboon clinging to her back. Sometimes the mother
+will sit up on top of a rock just like a human being. Her offspring
+often perches on her neck after the fashion of a well-trained acrobat.
+
+All of these monkeys are gregarious. They travel about in large
+numbers. Often as many as a hundred individuals collect in one herd.
+Because of their aggressive disposition, they are dangerous enemies,
+especially when irritated or disturbed. Their long, sharply pointed,
+canine teeth are capable of inflicting severe wounds. Although they
+have no actual speech, they utter certain sounds that seem to be
+thoroughly understood by all members of the herd. There is quite a
+variety in these sounds. Some of them resemble barks, grunts, or
+even screams. Often they make low and subdued murmurs with various
+inflections, the meaning of which all the baboons seem to understand
+immediately. Sometimes the slightest murmur from one of the members of
+the herd will act as a signal or warning. This is particularly true
+when the baboons are out on an expedition of pillage or mischief.
+On such occasions they always station a lookout or outpost at some
+favourable point from which the signal may be given upon the approach
+of danger. The faintest murmur made by one of these lookouts will start
+the marauding baboons scampering away to safety.
+
+
+_Disposition of Baboons_
+
+For the most part they live in rocky places near ravines, crags, or
+hilly promontories where grass and trees are scanty. Their favourite
+abodes are usually places surrounded by wide plains. This kind of home
+enables them to lie in wait for the right moment to perpetrate some
+thieving expedition upon a garden or field and at the same time to have
+every opportunity of escape. They are much given to mischief of this
+kind. Consequently they are feared and despised by the inhabitants of
+the country which they infest. If attacked, they often turn upon their
+pursuers and inflict serious wounds upon their assailants. Some baboons
+prefer to live in the dense forest and climb readily about even in the
+tallest trees. Those that live in more open country are very agile
+in clambering among the rocks and are able to reach lofty heights or
+positions of safety. The baboon eats a little of everything, although
+its chief diet consists of roots, fruits, reptiles, and insects.
+To procure their food they are continually searching, turning over
+stones beneath which the desired food may be concealed. When young the
+baboon is often quite gentle and affectionate, but with most of them
+this disposition changes when they grow up. In captivity baboons are
+surly and unfriendly. Even those born and reared in captivity are more
+difficult to approach and teach than other apes. They are vindictive
+and treacherous. Their disagreeable dispositions accord well with
+their unpleasant and often repulsive facial expressions. Their savage
+reactions and lack of intelligence have earned for them the reputation
+of being the lowest of the Old World monkeys. Baboons seldom assume
+the erect position for standing or walking. They do, however, sit upon
+their haunches in a somewhat crouched position, but not so freely as
+many other Old World monkeys. They all live in Africa, with a slight
+extension into Arabia. It is well that these animals never grew to the
+size of the great apes, for had they done so they certainly would have
+been among the most dreaded and frightful creatures ever known on earth.
+
+Dr. Ditmars, who has spent much time in observing monkeys, reports
+many interesting studies and experiments concerning their behaviour.
+Apparently the habit of throwing missiles when enraged is not uncommon
+among baboons. Any angry monkey may in its rage grasp and hurl an
+object such as a drinking pan, but there is usually no accuracy in
+its aim or intention in its act other than an expression of irritated
+feelings. None of the monkeys has ever been known to use a stick or a
+club in attacking others or defending itself. Although the throwing
+of missiles is almost unknown among monkeys, the baboon marks an
+exception. As an instance, one day Dr. Ditmars found the visitors to
+the ape house almost in a panic, due to the savage behaviour of a
+big yellow baboon. A part of the cement had fallen out of the wall
+of his cage and broken up into sharp pieces. These pieces the baboon
+was hurling at the visitors through the bars in a most deliberately
+offensive manner and with effective aim. The crowd in consequence had
+retreated to various points of safety. Later a shovelful of coal was
+placed in the cage of this same baboon. The pieces of coal he also used
+as missiles, throwing them with calculating aim at the keeper and other
+attendants. The baboon seems to have an excellent throwing arm, and
+Dr. Ditmars credits him with good control and much speed. During this
+experiment a baboon of a different species acted in precisely the same
+way. In both of these animals their pitching capacity was demonstrated
+without any previous practice or instruction, and from these
+observations it would appear that baboons are natural-born pitchers.
+
+
+_Macacus, the Indian Monkey_
+
+Another one of the Old World monkeys, the macacus, shows a different
+side of the picture. He is more friendly, more gentle, more full of
+fun, and forever up to some sort of monkeyshines. Many of these monkeys
+live in India. Mr. Kipling has described them in his famous “Road Song
+of the Bandar-Log”:
+
+    Jabber it quickly and all together!
+    Excellent! Wonderful! Once again!
+    Now we are talking just like men.
+        Let’s pretend we are ... never mind,
+        _Brother, thy tail hangs down behind!_
+
+These monkeys have their homes throughout the Indo-Malayan regions.
+They extend northward into China and Japan and eastward into Tibet. The
+macaques have a stout body and a proportionately large head. There is
+considerable variation in the tail, which ranges from a long, sweeping,
+plume-like appendage with a tuft at the tip, as in the lion macaque,
+to a thick, stubby tail much like that of a dog which has been docked.
+The pigtail monkey has a curled appendage. One of the macaques of
+Japan has a mere stump, while the Barbary ape has no tail at all. The
+macaques are the typical monkeys about which most of the favourite
+stories concerning the ape kind have had their origin. Their enormous
+cheek pouches, their facial grimaces, and the motion of their lips
+make them unusually fascinating to watch. They are extremely noisy,
+jabbering most of the time. They seem to have an extensive vocabulary
+of sounds, consisting of shrill calls, grunts, low mutterings, barks,
+chattering noises, and almost ear-splitting yells, which they emit
+in moments of rage. They are playful and quarrelsome, and these two
+phases of their behaviour pass without sharp line one into the other.
+They never become involved in serious combats because they seldom
+remain at one thing long enough to be effectual fighters. In their
+quarters at feeding time they usually make a real pandemonium in their
+frenzied efforts to stuff their cheek pouches as full as they can.
+They have absolutely no consideration or courtesy on these occasions.
+Their table manners are not only rough but actually ruthless, and the
+most delicious morsels go to the strongest. The weak, the young, and
+the female obtain what is left or go without. These monkeys are often
+docile and affectionate. They make the most amusing kind of pets. No
+animal is more mischievous or more destructive about a home where there
+is anything within reach to break. Sometimes when they grow up they
+develop the unpleasant tendency of being too strictly a one-man animal.
+To protect their owner against an imaginary danger they will often
+attack strangers or visitors.
+
+
+_Behaviour of Macacus_
+
+The head of the macaque is much less dog-shaped than that of the
+baboon. The eyes are set closely together, and the animal sits on its
+haunches a good deal of the time holding its head upright, so that
+the eyes are directed forward. Its posture in sitting is quite human,
+while its attentive gaze gives the impression that it is watching
+intelligently all that is going on. Its nose is short and has a fairly
+good nasal bridge. The lips are thin and the upper one is particularly
+long. The hands and feet closely resemble human hands, except that the
+palm is not so broad, the fingers are longer, and the thumb shorter.
+In its movements the macaque is remarkably deft. It changes from one
+position to another with surprising swiftness. These monkeys go about
+in herds, often of considerable size. If captured young the animal is
+easily trained and quickly learns many amusing tricks. It is full of
+mischief and curiosity. Macacus monkeys frequently become a nuisance
+in the neighbourhood of towns where they live in large numbers. When
+full grown they are sometimes quite ill tempered and often savage even
+to the extent of attacking the inhabitants without much provocation.
+For the most part they live in cultivated tracts along the banks of
+streams. They seem to seek rather than avoid the habitations of
+man. They manifest little fear for their human neighbours and take
+a real delight in molesting them by many annoying pranks. Sometimes
+their attentions are vigorously resented and their human neighbours
+turn upon them. Their behaviour on such occasions is like that of
+tantalizing small boys who take an almost idiotic delight in the
+vain efforts of their pursuers to overtake them, and continue their
+aggravating antics in order to prolong the excitement of the futile
+pursuit. If one happens to be captured, a number of them will turn
+back to take the part of the unfortunate captive. In their native
+haunts they are constantly on the move. Repose is totally foreign to
+their daily programme. Scampering, swinging, chattering, screaming,
+they go among the trees all day long. Either their actions are without
+design, or else their purpose changes so rapidly and frequently that
+their behaviour has the appearance of ceaseless motion. When together
+they are very quarrelsome, constantly nagging or teasing each other,
+but here, as in all of their activities, the object of their anger,
+the victim of their jest, is as quickly shifted as their fleeting
+attention. Having no fear of the water, they are able to swim for long
+distances and greatly enjoy it. They feed upon spiders and many other
+insects, besides fruits and berries. As compared with the baboon, they
+show a greater mental alertness.
+
+
+_Mental Tests_
+
+Considerable psychological study has been made of the macaques,
+particularly concerning their ability to learn and their mentality.
+Dr. Kinnaman, who has made some of these studies, believes that they
+have attained a higher level of intelligence than that ascribed to
+the New World monkeys by Professor Thorndike. He thinks there is some
+evidence that the macaques have powers of reasoning, although of a low
+order. Dr. Hobhouse agrees with this view and adds that the macacus
+monkey seems to be possessed of definite ideas. Professor Yerkes,
+after a longer and more systematic study with experimental methods
+better suited to the problem, agrees with Professor Thorndike that the
+macacus may have a certain number of limited ideas. It is clear to him
+also that there are extreme differences in the mentality of different
+species of monkeys. The slow process which they display in the solution
+of problems is quite surprising, in many instances being actually less
+rapid than in some of the lower mammals.
+
+One question is certain to arise at this point: How do the Old World
+monkeys compare in mentality with lemur and tarsius and with the
+monkeys of the New World? Perhaps the best answer to this question may
+be obtained by watching the actions of these different animals in their
+cages at the zoölogical gardens. Looking at a lemur as he jumps about
+restlessly among the supports of his cage, it is quickly concluded that
+this animal, not unlike a diminutive fox, is interesting only because
+of his remarkable agility. Tarsius would probably not be found in
+most zoölogical gardens because these animals do not survive long in
+captivity. The marmosets would attract little more attention than the
+lemurs, not only because of their small size, but also because of their
+lack of interesting reactions. Howling monkeys, spider monkeys, and
+woolly monkeys are more interesting because of the remarkable way in
+which they use their tails like a fifth hand. Their facial expression
+and their general behaviour, however, are somewhat monotonous.
+
+The Old World monkeys, especially the macaques, hold the attention and
+create a real interest. Here is to be seen a busy world of jabbering,
+mischievous, tricky, athletic monkeys whose antics easily rival the
+best of human clowning. There can be no doubt that these Old World
+monkeys are on a higher mental plane than those of the New World.
+The main fault to be found with them is that they never get anything
+really done, except perhaps filling the pouches in their cheeks just
+as full as they can. Even the grouchy baboons show some signs of
+better mental powers than the South American monkeys. They have a
+thoroughgoing hostility for their human contemporaries which they have
+never changed, and their powers of organized banditry show a degree of
+mental capacity that is foreign to the lower monkeys. This capacity we
+should consider all the more noteworthy because the baboon manifests
+a distinct tendency to lose some of the benefits derived from living
+in the trees. It almost seems as though, to a certain extent, it had
+retrograded. This retrogression appears in the fact that many of the
+baboon’s characteristics are less ape-like and more dog-like than
+other Old World monkeys and also because its hands and feet seem to
+be specialized more in the direction of paws. Yet, in spite of this
+backsliding on the part of the baboon, the monkeys of the Old World are
+as a whole eminently more efficient in their actions and capacities
+than any of the New World monkeys, the lemurs or tarsiers.
+
+
+_Brains of the Old World Monkeys_
+
+A question may arise concerning the relation in point of time which the
+Old World monkeys bear to those of the New World. All of the evidence
+supplied by fossils indicates that lemurs and tarsiers, as well as
+the monkeys of South America and Central America, came into existence
+long before those species which inhabit Africa and Asia. According to
+most reliable records, the monkeys had their start some time early in
+the Age of Mammals. It is correct, therefore, to look upon the Old
+World monkeys as a later and higher stage of development in apedom.
+This conclusion is borne out when we view the brains of the macaque
+and the baboon. In this comparison we may be able to detect many signs
+indicating improvements in the brain; in fact, all doubts may be set at
+rest concerning the superiority of Old World monkeys.
+
+If we look at the baboon’s brain we are impressed by the fact that it
+has many more grooves and many more convolutions than the brain of the
+South American monkey. The convolutions and the grooves of the brain
+indicate the amount of cell space which the superbrain provides for
+developing brain power. As between the baboon and the macaque, the
+difference in this respect somewhat favours the former. This difference
+is small and may perhaps be discounted by the fact that in macacus
+the grooves have a slightly more advanced arrangement in consequence
+of which certain departments of the superbrain show more progressive
+tendencies than in the baboon. This is particularly true of the
+department of hearing (temporal lobe) and the department of body and
+contact senses (parietal lobe). Comparing the groove of Sylvius, whose
+general angle furnishes such an important standard in rating a brain,
+there is more of a backward tilting seen in this groove of the macaque
+than in the baboon. Such an inclination is characteristic of higher
+races. The central groove appears to be about on a par in both brains,
+and the ape groove is likewise well developed both in the macaque and
+the baboon. These three great boundary lines separate the four major
+lobes of the superbrain. The department of sight in the occipital
+lobe in macacus has no real advantage over the corresponding area in
+the baboon. As already noted, the departments of hearing and of body
+and contact sense are better organized and somewhat more expansive in
+macacus than in baboon. But when we come to the preëminent part of
+the superbrain, that portion in which the chief executive function is
+located, namely, the frontal lobe, the baboon actually seems to have
+some real advantage. Recalling the ugly disposition and ferocious
+nature of this animal, we may question why he is superior in this
+highest part of his brain to the lively and humorous little macaque.
+It is unfortunate that we have not as yet any good psychological
+studies of the baboon by which we may compare him with his more nimble
+associates. Doubtless it is the disagreeable nature and uncompromising
+aversion which the baboon has for mankind that make it so difficult to
+estimate him psychologically. Yet there may be something of an enviable
+consistency in the baboon’s aversion to man that implies a better type
+of mental power than one might infer from the jabbering, ceaseless
+activities of the macacus and all of the other bandar-logs. Some
+explanation of this sort must at present suffice until we are possessed
+of better standards for psychological comparison.
+
+The two important structures on the base of the brain furnish a
+definite idea of an animal’s rating. Accepting their evidence, it
+appears at once that the bridge (_pons_) bears out our previous
+observations concerning the powers of the superbrain. This evidence
+gives the baboon a higher standing in intelligence than the macacus.
+The value assigned to the bridge in the baboon is .164, while in the
+macacus it is .150. This contrast gives an interesting corroborative
+estimate of the superior mental powers of the baboon. From the figures
+indicating the relative size of the pyramid, it would seem that the
+macacus is somewhat more richly supplied in his variety of skillful
+movements than the baboon. The figure in macacus is .147 and baboon
+.143. While this is not a marked difference, it seems to indicate an
+advantage probably derived from the more nimble and acrobatic actions
+of the macacus. This animal has acquired a more highly efficient
+mastery of tree life as compared with the more sluggish tendencies of
+baboons, most of which prefer to live upon the ground and go about
+like other four-legged animals. These contrasts between the Old World
+monkeys are interesting for what they show in themselves. They give
+rise to many questions which we would be glad to see answered by more
+exact and extensive study. The reasons why the baboon or the macacus
+should be endowed with superior qualities in one particular or another,
+or why there should be corresponding improvements in the brain, are not
+clear. There can be no doubt, however, that in the Old World monkeys as
+a whole both behaviour and brain are in many respects superior to the
+monkeys of the New World. We cannot fail to discern the special points
+of this superiority in the brain. It seems impossible to avoid the
+conclusion that when the Old World monkeys made their appearance they
+definitely advanced the cause of progressive improvement and that from
+this progress the brain profited as much as or even more than any other
+part.
+
+Turning back for a moment to the brains of the New World monkeys
+and comparing them with those of the Old World group, we will find
+sufficient evidence to convince us that the chief organ of the body was
+surely on the way upward, and that the first humble steps taken by the
+earliest members of monkey kind had been supplemented by further and
+bold advances.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+MANLIKE TENDENCIES
+
+BRAINS OF GIBBON AND ORANG-OUTANG
+
+
+There is little about the Old World monkeys, either in their mode
+of life or in their appearance, to inspire respect or confidence.
+The savage fierceness of the baboon, the mischievous nonsense of the
+macaque, seem like flimsy foundations upon which to build a race
+of intelligent human beings. When these animals first made their
+appearance they were but vague foreshadowers of what mankind might
+be. It is not alone their form and structure that interests us; their
+actions, habits, and behaviour must be carefully studied at the same
+time.
+
+
+_The Anthropoid Gibbon_
+
+Had the human eye been able to observe all that transpired in the early
+days of the monkey kind, it would have been difficult to believe that
+a race of men was in the making. It would have seemed incredible that
+from these chattering, restless monkeys change and modification could
+eventually bring forth that development necessary for the human form.
+And yet in the course of time changes of this kind did bring into
+existence an ape which bore a much closer resemblance to man. It was
+then possible to foresee how, from this new kind of animal, certain
+human features might be derived. This particular member of the ape
+world is the gibbon. All of his tendencies make him somewhat shy and
+inconspicuous. At the zoölogical gardens he is generally sitting high
+up on a perch in his cage with his long arms folded over his head,
+peering quietly about him. His fur is usually dark, although some
+members of his family are quite light in colour. The most impressive
+thing about the gibbon is the fact that he can stand up, walk, and run
+upon two legs. This he does a little awkwardly, but not unlike a human
+being. In a certain memorable moving picture, an unusually interesting
+silvery gibbon nearly usurped the rôle of leading man. His marvellous
+feats earned for him universal applause, and whenever he appeared he
+was the centre of attention. Among its most stirring moments, this
+picture shows a dramatic scene in which a great Indian elephant whose
+young one has been captured demolishes the dwelling of the jungle
+native who has trapped her offspring. Shortly after the native with his
+wife and children has escaped to safety, the gibbon emerges cautiously
+from the wreckage of the home. Through the darkness of the forest he
+discerns the glistening eyes of a tiger that is about to spring upon
+him. Realizing that retreat is cut off, he takes to flight. In escaping
+he stands upright and runs like a man, screaming in his fright in a
+thoroughly human manner. Fortunately for the gibbon, the branch of a
+tree comes opportunely in his path, and then, with a single upward
+bound, he is off like a bird through the trees to safety.
+
+Gibbons are gentle, affectionate creatures. They are also timid and at
+the first sign of danger hurry away through the forest as far up in
+the trees as they can go. The gibbon’s body and head are relatively
+small, being only a little larger than some of the smaller macaques.
+The animal’s legs are short and it has no tail. A prominent feature is
+the exceptional length of the forearm and of the fingers. The hand is
+slender and longer than the foot. The female bears one young at a time,
+which the mother carries under her body, the young one clinging to the
+fur on her chest with hands and feet. This burden does not embarrass
+her in the slightest as she swings her way from tree to tree through
+the forest. She makes as good time in this transportation as the
+unincumbered males.
+
+In the wild state the gibbons never leave the jungle, and live for the
+most part throughout southern Asia and the adjacent islands. A few of
+them venture from the inland forests to the vicinity of the coast.
+All of the gibbons are highly developed for life in the trees. This
+specialization is important not only for the effects it has had upon
+these apes but also for those developments in them which were to be of
+subsequent and substantial advantage to the rise of man.
+
+There are many different varieties of gibbons such as the white-handed
+gibbon, the silvery gibbon, the white-cheeked gibbon, the slender
+gibbon. The animal that we shall consider is the hoolock gibbon of
+India. He gets his name from a peculiar sound or cry which he makes.
+If it were at all possible to imitate this cry it might be expressed
+as “hooloo! hooloo! hooloo!” Mr. Candler has studied this interesting
+animal at close quarters, and his account of its habits is well worth
+quoting:
+
+  The Hoolock swings along the thinnest part of a bough or to the
+  slender end of a bamboo, until it bends to its weight, then with
+  a swing and a sort of a kick-off he flies through the air seizing
+  another branch, and swinging along it with the accuracy of a
+  finished trapeze performer. I fancy he does very little walking in
+  the wild state, for I have never seen a wild Hoolock on the ground.
+  Moreover, they are only found in the dense jungle where the ground
+  is everywhere covered with tangled vegetation. The Hoolocks are
+  extremely shy and it is difficult to watch them as they are concealed
+  by leaves high up on the bamboo clumps or tops of forest trees. The
+  cry of the Hoolock is characteristic. It is a very pleasing note,
+  rising and falling in intensity, and reminding one somewhat of a
+  pack of beagles giving tongue on a scent, which is waxing and waning
+  in strength as a larger or smaller number of the band join in the
+  chorus. It is heard chiefly in the early morning, then through all
+  the heat of the day there is silence, but towards evening as the sun
+  sets you may hear it again.
+
+One might almost think that their early morning cry was like a rising
+bell, and their cry toward evening was their curfew.
+
+
+_Manners of the Gibbon_
+
+Gibbons live in fairly large communities. They are constantly on the
+move. From what is known of their intelligence it seems probable that
+their movements are guided by definite plans. They even seem to have
+some simple sort of governmental system. Tea planters in India often
+keep these gibbons as pets for years. They run about the compound
+quite freely. At times they suddenly disappear and are gone for several
+months. Eventually they return quite unconcerned, as if nothing had
+occurred to interrupt their pleasant human associations. For the most
+part the gibbon is sociable. After he has become acquainted he will
+often sit on the arm of a person’s chair at breakfast. Whatever his
+appetite, he will never reach out for food at the table, although his
+long arms give him much advantage over his human host. Nor will he
+ever snatch things off the table. His manners are above reproach and
+he keeps himself scrupulously clean. As the day is drawing to a close
+it is his habit to get ready for the night. At sunset he settles down
+to sleep, safely seated in the fork of a tree, usually with his long
+arms over his head. He is never boisterous, mischievous, or noisy.
+Oftentimes he seems to be more in sympathy with children than with
+grown-ups.
+
+The diet of the gibbon includes a long list of foods, such as fruits,
+leaves, and young shoots, spiders, birds’ eggs, insects, and young
+birds. If captured young the gibbon is readily tamed. He is never sulky
+or ill tempered and shows marked intelligence both in learning many
+tricks and adjusting himself to the rules of the home.
+
+The locomotion of these animals among the trees is totally different
+from that of the monkeys. The latter climb about using both hands and
+feet. Gibbons employ their arms almost exclusively, swinging from
+branch to branch, with the legs tucked close to the body. This is such
+an important change in the transportation methods of apedom that we
+should give it particular attention in order to note what effects it
+had produced upon the gibbons themselves. In the first place, swinging
+from one limb to another by the hands greatly elongated the forearm and
+the fingers. This kind of locomotion gives the gibbon the appearance of
+taking tremendously long strides with his arms. The right hand, first
+grasping a branch, permits the animal to swing twelve or more feet to
+the next branch which is grasped by the left hand. In the next step the
+forward stride is taken by the right hand. Thus the animal alternates
+the right and left hand just as we alternate the right and left foot.
+It is probably for this reason that the gibbons have been called “tree
+walkers” (_Hylobates_).
+
+The second effect produced by this kind of swinging locomotion, called
+brachiation, is even more decisive in the final outcome. Transportation
+such as this swinging by the hands drew the body more and more into the
+upright position. It brought about many of those fundamental changes
+which made it possible for the gibbon to stand upright, walk, and run
+upon two legs. Compared with other animals of this class, the gibbon
+is the most two-legged of all the apes. He walks rather quickly in
+the erect posture. His gait is waddling, and if pursued he will make
+every effort to reach some support by which he can swing himself to
+safety. In walking he turns his leg and foot outward, which gives him
+a bow-legged appearance, added to which the shortness of his legs
+makes his movements in walking and running far less graceful than
+these acts ultimately came to be in their highest exponent, man. Here
+undoubtedly may be discerned important elements for the inception of
+human locomotion. They appear in an animal which can stand, walk, and
+run upright, and also possesses well-developed hands.
+
+
+_Gibbon’s Resemblance to Man_
+
+The gibbons are said sometimes to scoop up water in the hollow of the
+hand in order to drink. At other times they stretch out their long arms
+among the foliage and lick off the dew which adheres to their hair, in
+this way quenching their thirst.
+
+In view of these facts our estimate of the gibbon may credit him
+with certain manlike traits. Yet his resemblance to human beings,
+considering the animal as a whole, is at best sketchy and vague. Casual
+observation of the gibbon does not bring any clear association with
+the human being at once to mind. Only after watching him, after noting
+the manner in which he gets about, after seeing him walk and run on
+two legs, is it possible to recognize certain tendencies which point
+in the human direction. It is for this reason that the gibbon is said
+to represent a stage preceding the manlike apes. Some students of
+this question class the gibbon with these anthropoid apes. It seems
+better judgment, however, to consider him rather an animal showing
+dispositions which serve as a starting point for the anthropoids.
+These tendencies, as they are crystallized in the gibbon, represent an
+introductory chapter in the history of all those animals which later
+became notable because they walked more or less upright and had the
+use of hands. Thus the gibbon is often spoken of as pro-anthropoid.
+He himself is a modern animal. One of his venerable ancestors, very
+much like himself, lived long ago--_Propliopithecus_ of the Oligocene.
+The descendants of this ancient extinct ape with the long name,
+whose fossil remains have been found in Egypt, followed two lines of
+development. One line led up to the modern anthropoid apes and man, the
+second to the modern gibbons. The first offshoot from this line gave
+rise to a great ape which in many features looks much more like man
+than does the gibbon. This is the orang-outang. He is one of the big
+apes seen in the large primate cages of the zoölogical gardens. He may
+be recognized by the brownish-yellow hair which covers his body, by his
+face which bears a humorous caricatured resemblance to man, and by the
+erect posture which he assumes much of the time. Although he climbs
+about his cage and its supports like a skillful acrobat, this manlike
+ape lacks the grace and agility of the gibbon. He is wild and shy, but
+possesses enormous strength, which makes him more than a match for the
+most able-bodied man.
+
+
+_The Orang-Outang_
+
+The orang lives in Borneo and Sumatra. He has not been found elsewhere
+in the world. In his island home he enjoys a deserved reputation
+because of his prodigious strength. When full grown he stands a little
+over four feet in height. He has a heavy body, short thick neck,
+receding forehead, thick lips, and a face uncovered by hair. His muzzle
+protrudes to form a thick and heavy upper jaw, with a large mouth and
+large teeth. In the full-grown male the cheek pouches become greatly
+enlarged, so that they look like an old-fashioned ruff around the head.
+This feature gives him a hideous and gruesome appearance. The arms are
+long, reaching almost to the ankles when the orang stands upright.
+The hands are long and narrow, the thumb is short, the fingers are
+united by webs at their bases. The legs are short in comparison to
+the length of the body and considerably bowed. The feet are long and
+narrow. The great toe is short, but it can be used for grasping the
+branches. Fleshy pads over the buttocks are present in the adult male,
+but the orang has no tail. He is easily distinguished from the other
+great apes by his bulging muzzle and his light yellowish-brown hair.
+He seldom exceeds four feet two inches when standing upright, but his
+outstretched arms together measure nearly eight feet from finger tip
+to finger tip. Some specimens killed by hunters have been reported to
+stand five feet three inches high.
+
+Among the first accurate accounts of the orang-outang’s life is that
+of Alfred Russell Wallace appearing in his famous book _The Malay
+Archipelago_, from which the following description is an extract:
+
+  The orang has a wide distribution, inhabiting many districts along
+  the coast of the island [Borneo] where it appears chiefly confined
+  to the low swampy forests. It particularly affects a country which
+  is low and level with a few isolated mountains, on some of which
+  the Dyaks have settled and planted many fruit trees which are a
+  great attraction to the orang, as his most desirable food seems to
+  be unripe fruit. The habitual habitat of the animal is in the lofty
+  virgin forests, in which they can roam in every direction with as
+  much facility as the Indian on the prairie, passing from treetop to
+  treetop without being obliged to descend to the earth. The orang
+  makes his way leisurely through the forest, with remarkable ease.
+  He walks deliberately along the larger branches, in a semi-erect
+  attitude which his great length of arm and the shortness of his legs
+  causes him naturally to assume. But this proportion between his limbs
+  is increased by his walking on his knuckles and not on the palm of
+  his hand. He chooses those branches which intermingle with those
+  of an adjoining tree. In approaching these he stretches out his
+  long arms, seizing the neighboring bough with both hands and then
+  deliberately swings himself across to the next branch, on which he
+  walks along as before. He never jumps or springs nor even appears to
+  hurry himself, yet he manages to get along almost as quickly as a
+  person can run through the forest beneath. The long powerful arms are
+  of greatest use to the animal, as they enable him to climb easily the
+  highest trees, to seize fruit and young leaves from slender boughs
+  which will not bear his weight and to gather leaves and branches from
+  which to form his nest at night. When wounded he endeavors to make
+  a nest in which to remain quiet, and similarly at night prepares a
+  resting place in the tree to sleep. He likes this place low down in
+  the tree, not over 20 or 30 feet from the ground, probably because in
+  this position it is warm and less exposed to the wind.
+
+  The orang, it is said, makes a new nest for himself every night
+  or perhaps remakes an old one. In rainy weather the animal covers
+  himself with leaves or large ferns, and this may have led to the
+  belief that he actually builds huts in the trees. The animal does not
+  arise from his bed in the morning until the sun is well up and has
+  dried the dew upon the leaves. He seldom returns to the same tree two
+  days in succession.
+
+  They have no particular fear of man, and only retreat slowly after
+  a considerable period of scrutinizing inspection. They do not have
+  so much of the gregarious tendencies as do the other large apes. Two
+  full-grown animals are seldom seen together, but males and females
+  are sometimes accompanied by half-grown young ones. At other times
+  three or four young animals are seen together. Their food consists
+  almost exclusively of fruits, leaves, buds and young shoots. They
+  seem to prefer the unripe fruit, even when very sour or intensely
+  bitter, the red fleshy arillus being a particular favorite. The orang
+  rarely descends to the ground except when pressed by hunger, when
+  it seeks the succulent shoots at the riverside. In very dry weather
+  it also comes down from the trees in quest of water, of which it
+  generally finds sufficient in the hollow of the leaves. They have
+  been seen upon the ground playing together, at which times they
+  assume the erect posture and grasp each other with their arms.
+
+Wallace believes that the orang seldom stands or walks erect unless
+when using its hands to support itself by the branches overhead, or
+when attacked. He also thinks that the representations of it walking
+with a stick are quite imaginary. In its general demeanour the orang
+would impress one as dull and apathetic. When seated among the branches
+its back is bent, its head is bowed, and its long arms either reach
+up to grasp a branch overhead or hang listlessly by its sides. Some
+explorers have maintained that the animal builds huts for itself in the
+trees. This is largely an exaggeration, but the orang has developed
+an interesting technique for building itself a nest in the trees as
+night approaches. Small branches are first laid crosswise to form a
+framework, and over this a thick bed of leaves is placed. The orang is
+quite fussy about the construction of its bedroom and takes good care
+to cover itself up when the wind is chilly or the night stormy. Even in
+captivity the animal is particular about the details of its bedchamber
+and always manages to cover itself with straw or newspapers if it
+happens to find them in the cage.
+
+The orang has other constructive tendencies. He often manifests some
+engineering skill in devising supports for himself in his cage. With
+these he will amuse himself by the hour, climbing upon the support,
+dropping to the floor, and repeating the entire performance time after
+time in as many different ways as he can. In one instance a young male
+orang found a long rope hanging from the roof of his cage. He clung to
+the rope by his left hand and both feet. With his free right hand he
+passed the end of the rope around the bars, turned it through a right
+angle, and pulled it tight. In this way he made an interesting perch
+for himself. If anyone detached the rope he at once replaced it and
+thus remade his perch.
+
+On the ground the orang is clumsy. He usually goes on all fours, and
+his walking gait has been likened to that of a very old man bent down
+by age, hobbling along with the aid of a cane. It is interesting to
+note that in walking he goes on the outer borders of his feet. His
+stride is short and shuffling. Even when hurrying he lopes along
+rather than runs. Unlike the gibbons, the orang does not use his hand
+as a drinking cup. His lower lip protrudes in a capacious trough for
+collecting rain water. If given a pail of milk or water the orang lifts
+the pail and pours the fluid into this trough and then swallows it.
+When captured young the animals can be trained and taught to obey many
+words of command. In time they get over their shyness and seem to like
+human companionship. They are, however, easily frightened. Females when
+pregnant separate themselves from the others and remain more or less in
+seclusion until the young are born. The offspring grow slowly and, like
+human infants, require the care of their mothers for a long time. When
+the mother moves about the young one clings to the hair of her chest.
+This is a marked characteristic of child care throughout the ape world.
+
+
+_The Orang in Infancy_
+
+Wallace recites an interesting experience which he had with a baby
+orang whose mother was shot and killed by him in the forest the
+preceding day. This experience is especially interesting because of
+its many human resemblances. When Wallace stooped to pick up the
+helpless infant orang that lay sprawling on its back, his long beard
+was immediately seized by the grasping hands and feet of the youngster.
+It was a long and painful ordeal to get away from this clinging infant.
+The baby orang had but a single tooth, but soon its milk teeth began
+to appear, much as in a human infant. The lack of milk on the island
+made it difficult to feed the young ape. When a finger was placed in
+its mouth it would suck with great vigour, drawing in its cheeks in
+a vain effort to extract milk. After persevering for a long while it
+would give up in disgust and start screaming, much as would a human
+baby under similar circumstances. When handled or nursed it was always
+quiet, but if laid down by itself it would invariably cry. It enjoyed
+being rubbed after its morning bath and was quite happy while its hair
+was being combed and brushed.
+
+For the first few days it clung desperately by all four hands to
+everything it could reach, and Wallace remarks that it was necessary
+for him to be cautious in keeping his beard out of the way. He felt
+that the infant ape was lonely and needed companionship, so a little
+harelipped monkey of the macacus variety was obtained as a playmate. It
+was curious to see the difference in the actions of these two animals,
+the one an offspring of a humbler monkey, the other born of one of
+the great manlike apes. The two young ones were about the same age.
+The orang, just like a human baby, would lie upon its back helplessly
+rolling from side to side, stretching out all four hands into the air
+and striving to grasp something, although hardly able to guide its
+fingers to any desired object. When dissatisfied it opened wide its
+almost toothless mouth and expressed its discomfort in an infantile
+scream. The little macacus monkey, on the other hand, was constantly
+on the go, running and jumping about, examining everything in sight,
+taking hold of objects with greatest precision, balancing itself on the
+edge of its box and searching everywhere for food. There could scarcely
+be a greater contrast. One could hardly escape the conclusion that in
+the orang, as in man, a long period of slow growth is necessary for
+its final development. The advantages of such growth are sufficiently
+apparent and need no further comment.
+
+
+_Psychological Tests_
+
+The orang-outang has not yet been so extensively subjected to
+psychological study as its more sociable fellow ape, the chimpanzee. It
+is fortunate, however, that at least one of this species has come under
+the critical observation of an astute student of animal behaviour,
+Professor Robert M. Yerkes, of Yale University. In his notable
+contribution on the mental life of monkeys and apes, Professor Yerkes
+has described certain tests devised for estimating the intelligence of
+lower animals, and applied to the partly grown orang known as “Julius.”
+These tests were devised on what is known as the “multiple choice
+basis.” Julius, after many unsuccessful efforts to solve his problems
+by the method of trial and error, quite unexpectedly seemed to get the
+idea of what was wanted. He suddenly responded to the test without a
+single mistake. He seemed to solve his problem quite as if he knew what
+it was all about. It took him a long time, but at last he showed that
+he was capable of some kind of thinking. The curve of learning as it
+was charted day by day from the actions of Julius indicated that if he
+had been a human subject his mental process would possibly have been
+described as rational. Professor Yerkes feels justified in concluding
+from this evidence that the orang solves his problems ideationally.
+In general, Julius appeared to be far superior to other monkeys in
+his intelligence. His mental processes were slow, but the method of
+learning by ideas seemed to replace the simpler way of trial and
+error which is common throughout the monkey world. Julius persistently
+endeavoured, and often vainly, to gain some insight into a situation.
+Even though slow, he showed nevertheless that the brain had at length
+attained the development necessary for the production of real ideas.
+However questionable this attainment may be in the monkeys or in other
+lower animals, there seems to be little doubt about its existence in
+the orang.
+
+
+_Brains of the Gibbon and Orang_
+
+Upon reviewing the facts concerning the gibbon and the orang, we may
+ask certain questions. For example, does the real progress which these
+two members of the ape world show in their capacity to do things
+manifest itself as a measurable difference in their brains? Would it
+be possible to maintain that these were indeed the brains of more
+capable and more intelligent animals than the monkeys? Certain features
+about the brain of the gibbon and the orang are striking. In the first
+place, the pattern of their convolutions is more complicated. The
+orang especially has more grooves and convolutions upon the surface
+of the superbrain. It is believed, and many facts sustain the belief,
+that convolutions indicate in a general way the capacity of an animal
+to develop brain power. In the gibbon the increase in convolutions
+is not so pronounced as in the orang, although it is not difficult
+to see that in this respect the gibbon’s brain is much improved when
+compared with lower monkeys. Upon identifying the familiar landmarks,
+it is obvious that the groove of Sylvius, the central groove, and
+even the ape groove form more decisive boundaries and outline more
+prominent lobes than in macaque or baboon. The superbrain departments
+for sight (occipital lobe), for hearing (temporal lobe), for body
+and contact senses (parietal lobe), are all more extensive. Each
+lobe, by the presence in it of smaller secondary grooves which do not
+appear in the lower monkeys, shows how its capacity has expanded. The
+grooves of the brain, in their arrangement, number, and relations,
+now begin to assume an appearance similar to that of the human brain.
+Each sense department in the orang is well organized. Each has gained
+in prominence, thus indicating how the senses of sight and hearing,
+and body and contact senses, have increased their capacity. By means
+of its amplified sensory combinations the superbrain was eventually
+capable of producing intelligent reactions. The area in front of the
+central groove manifests the chief improvement. This is the part of
+the brain in contact with the frontal bone. It has made some advances
+in the gibbon but is still more prominent in the orang. At this stage
+it is possible to speak of a well-developed frontal lobe acting as the
+headquarters of all higher mental functions. The large increase in the
+size of the orang’s brain is in some degree proportional to the size of
+the animal’s body. Many other factors have actuated this expansion and
+will receive special consideration in a subsequent chapter.
+
+If it were possible to reduce the difference in intelligence between
+the orang and the gibbon to actual figures, the contrasts would be
+marked. Certain estimations of this kind are significant. The bridge
+(_pons Varolii_) on the base of the brain, which may be regarded as
+an index of intelligence, has a value of .200 in the gibbon and .300
+in the orang. The pyramid, indicating the degree of skill in movement
+attained by the animal, as well as the degree of controlling itself by
+the dictates of its will, also shows a considerable difference. This
+difference is again in favour of the orang, whose pyramid is estimated
+at .160, while that of the gibbon is .138.
+
+Many other points indicating similar advantages held by the orang over
+the gibbon might be cited. They have the same general meaning, namely,
+that the orang possesses a better brain. In fact, all of the evidence
+gathered from this animal reveals many manlike tendencies. Such
+tendencies, both in brain and behaviour, first became notable in the
+gibbon. At this stage they were not prominent features. They were, so
+to speak, in a preparatory or pro-anthropoid phase. In the orang those
+manlike tendencies foreshadowed by the gibbon became more definite and
+better developed. They formed the foundations for new combinations out
+of which was to emerge a still higher type of animal.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+HUMAN IN MINIATURE
+
+THE BRAIN OF THE CHIMPANZEE
+
+
+The chimpanzee has a well-established reputation for many sterling
+qualities. He is a comedian of no mean talent, and often as a buoyant
+fun maker earns a large salary. He is also famous as an acrobat.
+
+Depending upon his species, the chimpanzee varies in height from four
+feet to four feet five inches. As a class these apes are spread out
+over more territory than any of the other great anthropoids. They live
+in West and Central Equatorial Africa ranging from Gambia in the north
+as far south as Angola. In colour they are black with thick hair over
+the entire body, except the brow and face. In some species the scalp
+is bare, as in the bald-headed chimpanzee. All varieties are powerful
+but lightly built animals. They possess great strength and agility. In
+spite of his relatively short stature, the chimpanzee is a dangerous
+enemy even for the strongest man. His head is flattened in the region
+of the forehead, which has a thick bony ridge above the eyes. The ridge
+of the nose is flat. The mouth is large and the lips thick. The ears
+are especially large and project upward almost as high as the vertex of
+the head. The lower jaw protrudes considerably. The teeth in general
+are large and formidable, the canines in particular being prominent.
+The skin over the face is usually dark, but in some species it is
+lighter than surrounding areas. This is particularly true in the region
+of the mouth and nose. The body is short and the abdomen pendulous.
+The legs are shorter than the arms. The foot is short with a great toe
+that is thick and opposable. The other toes are united by a web near
+the base. The arms are long, with finger tips reaching a considerable
+distance below the knees when the animal stands erect. The hands are
+broad, the thumb is short, and the fingers webbed near their bases, as
+in the case of the toes. As is true of the other great anthropoids, the
+chimpanzee has no tail. The female bears one young at a time, which she
+carries when passing through the forest and along the ground in the
+manner characteristic of other apes.
+
+
+_Intelligence of the Chimpanzee_
+
+Concerning the habits of the chimpanzee in its native state little
+is known. Fortunately, many of these animals have been captured when
+young. Some of them have become noted circus performers, or famous
+moving-picture actors. A number of them have been studied from the
+standpoint of their behaviour and psychology. One of the best records
+of the chimpanzee comes to us as an echo of the Great War. It furnishes
+another instance of German thoroughness and scientific enterprise.
+
+Some years ago the Prussian Academy of Science established at Teneriffe
+in the Canary Islands a special station equipped for the study of
+the great manlike apes. It was here that Professor Köhler found
+himself during the Great War and here he remained interned with nine
+chimpanzees for two years. During this time he lived with these animals
+largely shut off from the rest of the world by the naval blockade.
+The report of his experience and studies is given in a delightful
+narrative published both in English and German called _The Mentality
+of Apes_. The following descriptions of the chimpanzee are taken from
+Professor Köhler’s book. In this work his chief purpose was to test the
+intelligence of the larger manlike apes. To this end it was necessary
+to devise certain methods which he called “roundabout tests” because
+they complicated ordinary situations in such a way as to require
+intelligence on the part of the animal for their solution.
+
+Early in the study one of the most quick-witted chimpanzees in the
+collection was given the following problem: From the roof of the
+animals’ playground a basket of bananas was suspended by means of a
+string passed through an iron ring. The end of this string was tied
+in a noose and placed over the limb of an old tree at a height of
+nine feet from the ground. When all was ready, the chimpanzee called
+“Sultan” was sent out into the playground. He, of course, was familiar
+with this basket and associated it with feeding time. On entering the
+enclosure Sultan saw the basket at once and then began to manifest
+signs of agitation because, contrary to custom, he was all alone in the
+open. He began at once to show his feelings in true chimpanzee style.
+Jumping about he expressed his extreme disapproval at being alone by
+making a thundering noise with his feet against the wall of the ape
+house. It seemed as if he were calling upon the other chimpanzees to
+come out and join him. He even tried to get in communication with the
+other animals by climbing up and looking in at their windows. But
+all of this was to no avail. Presently he appeared to take a renewed
+interest in the bananas. He looked up at the basket, and having sized
+up the situation made for the tree, climbed quickly to the noose,
+pulled the string until the basket bumped against the roof, released
+the string, pulled it a second time even more vigorously, until a
+banana fell to the ground. Sultan then left the tree, but soon ascended
+once more, now to pull violently upon the string until it broke and the
+entire basket fell. Immediately he scampered down, took the basket, and
+went off in a corner to eat the fruit. Thus Sultan, in a comparatively
+brief time, solved this roundabout problem by obtaining the objective
+in spite of the obstacles put in his way.
+
+
+_The Chimpanzee’s Use of Implements_
+
+Many experiments were made to see how much the chimpanzees make use
+of implements, but in the main these experiments were not necessary.
+The chimpanzee, as if by nature, handles many objects in his immediate
+surroundings in a variety of ways. His powerful hands serve in a
+most natural manner as a useful link between him and the world of
+things outside. His feet, although far more than a second pair of
+hands, may be used in emergencies when the human feet would be quite
+useless. The jaws and teeth are also serviceable, and are employed as
+among many African tribes and other primitive people. The handling
+of everyday objects by the chimpanzee comes almost entirely in the
+nature of play. Sometimes under the pressure of need it appears that
+new knowledge acquired from using objects at play will be put to still
+better use in gaining some desired objective. In the main, however,
+what the chimpanzee may use in this way is without the slightest idea
+of immediate gain and serves only to increase the joy of living.
+Thus jumping with the aid of a stick or pole, invented by one of the
+brightest chimpanzees, was imitated by all the others as a means of
+entertainment. Later it was put to more practical use for obtaining
+food which was suspended above them and out of reach. In order to get
+this food it was necessary to resort to some means of lifting their
+body toward the desired goal. In the end the jumping with a stick in
+play was converted to a sort of pole vaulting by means of which the
+chimpanzees all acquired a thoroughly businesslike method for getting
+such food as was out of reach over their heads. These chimps also used
+straws and twigs as we use spoons. At first this was more or less in
+play during mealtime, especially after their first thirst had been
+quenched. Then they liked to amuse themselves by dipping the water up
+with a straw and sucking the straw. Once some red wine was poured into
+the drinking water which they shared in common. At the first taste of
+this new mixture they all paused for a moment and looked at each other;
+then one of the chimpanzees began to spoon up this wonderful drink
+with a straw, and all the others immediately followed his example. In
+learning to use twigs and straws for spoons there was no possibility of
+imitation. None of the chimpanzees had a chance of seeing a human being
+use a knife or spoon while eating. The twig or stick was also employed
+quite deftly in other ways, adding to its usefulness as a table utensil
+some of the properties of a weapon for the chase. In the summer time a
+species of ant infests the part of the Canary Islands where these great
+apes were housed. These ants passed in a wide stream, moving along
+over the beams, around a wire netting which encircled the playground.
+The chimpanzee has a great liking for acid fruit, which he prefers to
+all others. It is no doubt for this reason that he relishes the formic
+acid in the ants. Usually upon seeing the ants the chimpanzee simply
+rolled his tongue along a beam over which they were crawling and thus
+gathered them in to himself. If the wire netting came between him and
+this coveted delicacy, such a method of capture would not suffice. In
+consequence, all of the chimpanzees soon learned to use sticks and
+straws, which they thrust through the wire netting and held in this
+position until covered by ants. The straws were then withdrawn, and
+the insects promptly licked off and devoured. This method of capture
+proved most satisfactory and entertaining. Their attention was entirely
+absorbed in the process of overcoming the obstacle between them and
+the delicate morsels which they craved.
+
+
+_Strong Human Resemblances_
+
+If a mouse, a lizard, or some small crawling animal entered the
+playground, the chimpanzees at once became greatly excited. They
+manifested all of the hunting interest apparent in the human species
+under like circumstances. There was also evidence of fear and timidity
+on these occasions, not, however, confined to the female alone. Even
+the bolder chimpanzees that evinced the greatest hunting interest did
+not give chase with any creditable show of courage. They manifested
+caution and hesitation throughout the entire performance. Nearly
+every movement on the part of the poor quarry was followed by nervous
+gestures of the chimps. The largest ones hesitated to make a capture
+by a sudden snatch with the naked hand. It was amusing and almost
+laughable to see these powerful apes stretch out their hands with the
+evident intention of catching the prey, with fingers all pointed in
+anticipation, then suddenly, on the slightest movement of the mouse
+or lizard, quickly withdraw the hand again. A firm grasp upon one of
+these little wriggling animals appeared almost as impossible for the
+chimpanzees as for many people. Despite the great excitement which the
+presence of invaders occasioned, the little animals would often escape
+because the chimpanzees lacked that last degree of daring necessary to
+make a successful capture. Presently they learned to use sticks upon
+the small intruders of their domain. With these weapons, if the victim
+did not escape, they would at length dispatch it. This they did in no
+spirit of cruelty but rather in sheer excitement of the chase.
+
+Professor Köhler took great pains to observe the rapidity with which
+the chimpanzees adjusted themselves when confronted by new conditions
+for the first time in their lives. One of the most striking tests
+of this kind was their introduction to the electric current. It was
+decided to observe how the chimpanzees would act when they made the
+acquaintance of this entirely new circumstance. For this purpose one
+wire from an electric induction coil was attached to a metal basket
+filled with bananas and suspended from the roof. The other wire from
+the battery was made fast to a metal netting upon the ground beneath
+the basket. In a short time all of the chimpanzees became intensely
+interested in the fruit above their heads. They were particularly
+eager to reach the bananas. To do so it was necessary for them to
+stand upon the wire netting on the ground. At first one chimpanzee
+approached cautiously. Having taken up his position with both feet
+upon the wire netting, he reached slowly up to the metal basket.
+This of course immediately made a connection which delivered an
+electric current through his hand. The reaction of the chimpanzee was
+astonishingly human. Immediately upon touching the basket he felt the
+shock of the current and with a cry of dismay bounded off in great
+surprise. His curiosity, however, was not yet satisfied. He still
+had a hungry longing for the bananas. Everything about the situation
+looked thoroughly familiar and innocent to him. He could see no reason
+why the basket on this occasion should treat him so rudely or why he
+experienced such an unpleasant sensation in trying to get his food as
+he had done a hundred times before. Appetite and curiosity finally got
+the upper hand, and stealing up cautiously he made a second attempt.
+This time he was less hasty in grasping the basket and spent several
+moments in hesitating attempts to touch it, drawing his hand back now
+and again. At length, with a sudden grasp, he reached for the goal,
+only to receive another shock. In apparent indignation he hopped away
+in much the same manner as might any human being who had inadvertently
+touched a hot stove. Nothing would do, however, but that all of the
+chimpanzees in turn should follow the example of their leader and try
+to get the bananas away from this strange thing that seemed to be
+outwitting them. One after another they made their futile attempts
+until it became a pathetic sight to see them sitting around in a
+mournful ring, sometimes looking at their hands, sometimes shaking
+them resentfully, and always gazing wistfully at the inaccessible
+delicacies. Most of the chimpanzees during this test reacted in a
+manner which might easily be called human. It was rather impressive to
+observe that all of their reactions under these conditions were actual
+counterparts of human behaviour.
+
+
+_Chimpanzee Sports and Nest Making_
+
+In handling other objects the chimpanzees showed a strong tendency to
+develop new habits. After a time they did not confine themselves alone
+to thrusting and hitting with sticks. They soon began to throw them
+around. In moments when they were greatly pleased (and chimpanzees
+have a joyful, buoyant nature) they showed their delight in a new way,
+especially when very good food was being provided. On such occasions
+one of them would seize another and shake him violently out of sheer
+pleasure and approval. Under such provocation a large chimpanzee
+developed the habit of taking a stick and flinging it forcefully
+at some comrade in his vicinity. This frequently happened in play
+also. One female, a remarkable athlete called “Chica,” developed the
+amusing pastime of stealing up behind her companions as they sat
+quietly at rest, and from fairly close quarters hurling a stick at
+them. Immediately she would scurry off, apparently much delighted by
+the discomfort that she had caused. From throwing sticks it was but a
+short step to throwing handfuls of sand at one another, and finally
+stones of varied size and weight. At first their aim was poor, but soon
+throwing stones became a ruling passion among them, and some of them
+became dangerously expert, especially the wily Chica. She practised so
+continuously that she soon acquired great skill and an excellent aim.
+From this pastime she appeared to derive much satisfaction, whether
+hurling stones at her fellow apes or at her human associates. Both
+ape and man acquired such a genuine respect for her ability in this
+regard that whenever they found her in this mood they quickly retired
+to safety and permitted the expert marksman to find her amusement on
+less sensitive targets. All of these hurling activities, which were in
+the nature of play, might for a few moments determine an exciting stone
+battle. But the sharpshooting Chica was so obviously superior that the
+fray was certain to be short lived.
+
+Almost all of the chimpanzees made nests for themselves, even from the
+earliest infancy onward. In these operations, as might be expected,
+the full-grown chimpanzee made the best beds. It may not be altogether
+clear why the adult female was the best chambermaid of all. Her
+efforts in bed making did in fact show a precision in tidiness that
+was unequalled by any of the others. Usually in the evening, as the
+strenuous play of the day subsided, all of the apes began to gather
+heaps of straw. In the centre of each heap a chimpanzee would sit
+quietly and begin to twist the ends of the straw together. This work
+continued all around the edge until a natural nest, not unlike that of
+the stork, was formed. The younger animals in their nest making were
+less exact. They seldom made so neat a turning down of the outer edges,
+but on some occasions, when they apparently took more pains with their
+handiwork, their movements during the preparation of the nest were
+exactly like those of the older females. Nests were often made during
+the day in pure fun, and many different materials, such as string,
+grass, branches, rags, ropes, and even wire, were collected for this
+purpose. It was quite evident that in their nest-making activities the
+younger chimpanzees imitated the actions of the older ones.
+
+
+_Clowning and Masquerade_
+
+Objects of many kinds interested these apes. They seemed particularly
+fond of carrying quite a variety of rubbish about on the body in one
+way or another. Nearly every day some of the animals began walking
+around the playground with a piece of rope, a bit of rag, a blade of
+grass, or a twig upon the shoulders. Some of them if given a bit of
+metal chain would put it proudly around their necks like a necklace.
+Bushes and brambles were often carried in considerable quantities
+spread out over the entire back. In these actions they affected a
+manner that revealed tendencies familiar to human masquerading in
+grotesque or fantastic costumes. One of the chimpanzees contracted the
+habit of carrying around empty preserve cans by grasping the lid of the
+can between his teeth. All of this occupation was done as diversion
+or entertainment, from which the chimpanzees derived much visible
+pleasure. The clowning actions of these apes clearly held the attention
+of those not actively participating in the performances, and many of
+them, like little children, attempted to imitate the antics of the
+leader. When dressed up in these various ways the chimpanzees often
+displayed an almost impish self-important audacity, strutting about
+among their companions or advancing upon them in a menacing way. One
+of the older females, attired for play, would trot around in a circle
+with several of the smaller animals following closely at her heels.
+Sometimes the entire company playing in this fashion would march around
+in a circle, one behind the other. The largest animal would stamp its
+foot at each step, as though beating time for the parade. The other
+animals followed suit by an accentuation of the marching movements.
+
+
+_Manufacture and Building_
+
+Not only did the chimpanzees acquire many ways for employing objects
+which they encountered, but some of them actually went one step
+farther. They manifested a degree of ingenuity in constructing special
+implements for themselves. The results of this constructive industry,
+it must be admitted, were relatively simple. On the other hand, there
+can be no doubt that the chimpanzee does manufacture instruments, in a
+modest way, which help him to gain his ends. One of the most talented
+apes learned to fit a small piece of bamboo into the cavity at the
+end of a larger piece. In this way he built a long bamboo pole, which
+was especially useful for procuring food hung above his head and out
+of reach. All of the chimpanzees ultimately developed some degree of
+constructive or engineering ability. They actually became builders on
+a small scale. This ability grew out of their learning to use boxes
+in order to reach objects over their heads. Using one box led to the
+advantage of piling one box on top of another and thus constructing
+a tower. They were not all equally expert as builders. As might be
+expected, the more quick-witted and alert members of the group learned
+how to build first, and this they did entirely of their own initiative.
+After they had built a tower of this kind, the long bamboo stick came
+in handy as a means to bring the suspended banana to the ground.
+Here two modes of solving a problem were combined--that of building,
+and that of using the long pole. Building operations soon became a
+favourite pastime; yet in spite of the fact that they were given every
+opportunity they never developed an efficient labour organization.
+However helpful united efforts may have been toward their ultimate
+aim, the chimpanzees failed to realize the advantages of a mutual aid
+society. There was doubtless a reason for their lack of intelligence
+in developing higher efficiency in this respect. Almost invariably
+their building operations were dictated by a desire to obtain food
+that was out of their reach. Among the chimpanzees this goal was in no
+sense a mutual interest. It was a matter of the utmost selfish concern
+to each chimpanzee. So whatever advantage there might have been in a
+division of labour, there was never a thought of dividing the spoils.
+When the chimpanzees gravely assembled in the presence of a basket of
+food hung up over their heads, they gazed about for proper materials
+to use as tools in reaching the desired goal. One would bring a pole;
+another would drag up a box. These were put in position preparatory to
+constructing a tower. The building would then begin in earnest. When
+the first stages of construction were complete several of the animals
+at the same time would show great impatience to clamber up. Each one
+of them acted as if either he or she were the sole proprietor of the
+structure. Often, too, the box already in position would be snatched
+away by some competitive group in the building industry and dragged off
+to be used in the construction of a rival tower. This would usually
+result in a wrangle among the architects. In fact, the entire company
+of builders might come to blows over this infringement of property
+rights. After the subsidence of these Babel-like controversies the
+building would be resumed and the structure would continue to grow
+in height until it became an object of ever-increasing excitement to
+the assembled workers, each manifesting a keen desire to mount it. In
+consequence of this highly individualistic competition and due to their
+restless efforts, the tower would sometimes tumble over and the result
+of their labours be destroyed. Then it was necessary to begin all
+over again. Usually in this renewed effort only the more diligent and
+patient of the chimpanzees adhered to the original purpose. The others
+became interested in more trivial occupations. Eventually the tower
+was finished, and the more diligent as well as the more patient of the
+toilers quietly mounted to the summit of the structure and, either
+with or without the aid of the pole, obtained the coveted bananas.
+Sometimes, however, just when the diligent one was ready to reap the
+just reward of his efforts, some member of the group endowed with
+unusual athletic prowess rushed up stealthily and with great speed to
+the top of the tower and seized the prize before the rightful winner
+had time to protest or retaliate. In all of this building enterprise
+there is something so fundamentally human, so reminiscent of modern
+methods, that it seems inaccurate to class these reactions too rigidly
+in the category of ape behaviour.
+
+
+_Emotions of the Chimpanzee_
+
+The chimpanzee, according to Professor Köhler, has a range of
+expression of emotion even greater than that of the average human
+being. The chimp shows his feelings by his entire body, not merely
+by his facial expressions. It is his custom to jump up and down both
+in joyful anticipation and in anger or annoyance. In extreme despair
+or disgust, which the animal shows on slight provocation, he has the
+habit of flinging himself upon his back, rolling wildly to and fro,
+swinging and waving his arms about his head in a frantic manner not,
+on the whole, very different from the way in which some non-European
+races manifest their disappointment and dejection. The chimpanzee is
+not known to weep, nor does he laugh in quite the human sense of the
+term. There is something approaching human laughter in his rhythmical
+gasping and grunting when he is tickled. While quietly watching objects
+that seem particularly pleasing (and his greatest delight comes from
+observing little children) the face of the chimpanzee, especially
+around the mouth, has an expression not unlike a human smile. When
+perplexed or in doubt, he has a way of scratching the surface of his
+body, especially the arms, breast, or upper portions of the thigh.
+It has not been stated that during these moments of perplexity he
+scratches the head, as is the common human custom. He conveys his
+meaning not only of emotional distaste but also of definite desires.
+The expression of his wishes is in large part shown by direct imitation
+of the actions desired. Thus, when one chimp wishes to be accompanied
+by another, he gives the latter a nudge and pulls him by the hand. If
+one chimpanzee wishes to receive bananas from another, he imitates the
+movement of snatching or grasping accompanied by pleading glances. The
+summoning of another chimpanzee from a considerable distance is often
+accompanied by a beckoning that is very human in character. Their many
+actions in all instances are characteristic enough to be understood by
+their comrades.
+
+
+_Surgical Interests_
+
+The chimpanzee is especially prone to pay close attention to the wounds
+or injuries received by his fellows. The motive of this attention may
+scarcely be called mutual aid. The removal of splinters from each
+other’s hands and feet is a favourite clinical operation. In this
+pursuit the chimpanzee employs methods usually in vogue among the human
+laity. Two finger nails are pressed on either side of the splinter,
+which is thus elevated until it may be caught and removed by the teeth.
+Professor Köhler himself, once having suffered from such an accident,
+ventured to allow one of the chimpanzees to remove the splinter from
+his hand. On perceiving the condition, the chimpanzee’s face at once
+assumed an expression of eager intensity, and his attention became
+concentrated in preparation for his surgical efforts. He seized the
+hand, examined the wound, forced out the splinter with two somewhat
+powerful squeezes of his finger nails, and then closely examined the
+hand to be satisfied that his work was well done.
+
+
+_Morals Among Chimpanzees_
+
+There is much of interest in the experiences of another distinguished
+observer, Dr. Charles F. Sonntag, formerly Prosector of the Zoölogical
+Society of London, who has called attention to the fact that the
+chimpanzee is said to be filthy in its habits. He observed that many
+of these animals in captivity do not manifest such traits, nor do they
+show any tendency toward immoral behaviour as has been claimed. It
+seems unfortunate even to imply that such a delinquency as immorality
+exists among chimpanzees or, for that matter, any of the lower mammals.
+But since the point has been raised, it may be well to recall that
+morals are of human making. They are designed to modify, to restrain,
+or to prevent the development of certain animal tendencies which are a
+human heritage from the great animal kingdom. If the chimpanzee in any
+of its actions tends to depart from the code of morality established by
+man in one part of the world or another, this can be no reproach to
+the ape, since man himself has not yet been completely successful in
+building up a system of restrictive laws to protect himself from the
+devastations of his own animal inheritance.
+
+Professor Köhler, from his long studies of the chimpanzees, concluded
+that these apes manifest intelligent behaviour of a general kind
+familiar in human beings. Not all of their intelligent acts are similar
+to human acts, but by means of well-chosen tests the character of
+intelligent conduct can always be traced in the chimpanzee. These apes
+differ among themselves just as much as people do, in their mentality
+and intelligence. Some of them may be mentally deficient, just as
+there are mentally deficient human beings. One remark of Professor
+Köhler’s is a keen social criticism with a wide application to life
+in general. He maintains that the tests designed for the chimpanzee
+serve two purposes: First, they determine the intelligence of the
+apes; and, second, they test the intelligence of the examiner. This is
+eminently true in all intellectual contacts between human beings. It is
+a fact that the chimpanzees stand out among all other animals in their
+form, in their actions, and in their understanding. In these respects
+they come much closer to the human standard than any other ape, with
+the possible exception of the gorilla. All of these observations
+agree well with the theory of evolution, and in particular with the
+close relations existing between the growth of intelligence and the
+development of the brain.
+
+Many other chimpanzees have been studied from time to time. The
+conclusions drawn from them have been closely similar to those already
+cited. Romanes some years ago studied the trained chimpanzee, Sally,
+which was famous for her high degree of intelligence. Under training
+this animal acquired the ability to count. She could draw a number of
+straws to six or seven, and upon request would indicate with straws
+the exact number she had been instructed to show. This achievement,
+in combination with many other extraordinary performances, reveals
+certain striking likenesses to man, particularly as to the degree of
+the chimpanzee’s power to learn.
+
+
+_The Chimpanzee’s Social Traits_
+
+Others besides Professor Köhler are willing to give the chimpanzee
+credit for unusual good-fellowship. All admit that he is a most
+friendly creature. Often an affectionate attachment exists between him
+and his owner or keeper. He is never loath to indulge in his clowning
+performances to please and entertain his human friends. His actions
+on these occasions have doubtless been the models for the ludicrous
+mimicry of olden times now generally referred to as “aping.” In many
+of the army encampments in Africa, monkeys and apes have been the
+much-prized pets of the officers. It was not uncommon to find among
+these pets the highly sociable chimpanzee. Frequently the officers
+manifested much zeal and interest in training their charges and felt
+a real pride in exhibiting them. Sometimes on gala occasions these
+simian pets occupied places at the table beside their owners. They
+partook in most approved style both of food and of drink. Not a
+few of them have shown a distinctly human characteristic in their
+strong liking for intoxicating liquors. The chimpanzee has always had
+a decided penchant in this direction. At mess dinners and on other
+occasions he not only manifested a keen liking for good wines but took
+his share with the rest. Often he, like his human companions, rose to
+hilarious heights. Often, too, it was necessary to lead him off to
+bed in such a deplorable condition that he would appear next morning
+with a shaky hand on his brow and that sad expression which plainly
+told the consequences of festive revelry. One of these chimpanzees had
+a particular fondness for afternoon tea and would join the officers’
+group at this time as a matter of course. His manners were altogether
+agreeable. He acquired all of the airs essential to such occasions even
+to certain banal chatterings.
+
+
+_In Prophecy of the Human Brain_
+
+If doubts should remain concerning the superior and almost manlike
+capacities of the chimpanzee, these may be soon put at rest by
+inspection of his brain. In this organ there are indications of the
+means by which the chimpanzee has acquired his new and extensive
+powers of learning, his greater understanding, his higher capacity for
+adjustments to life, and his many reactions which are so nearly human.
+
+Every sense department in the superbrain has shown pronounced
+improvements. A survey of the chimpanzee’s brain shows it to be a
+mechanism better organized for the purposes of efficient output than
+that of other apes and monkeys. It is a larger brain. It also has a
+greater richness in grooves and convolutions showing that its capacity
+for developing brain power has been much increased. The groove of
+Sylvius has been tipped backward in consequence of expansions in the
+department of hearing and the department of body and contact senses.
+In the department of hearing (the temporal lobe) the convolutions are
+more complex than in any other lower apes or monkeys. In fact, the
+entire pattern of coil arrangement in this part of the superbrain
+is similar to that seen in man. It has, perhaps, a simpler design,
+but the essential features of the pattern may all be identified. In
+the department of sight the same principle of expansion has been at
+work. The convolutions in the occipital lobe have increased both in
+number and complexity of arrangement. There are more grooves and more
+convolutions in this region than we have yet encountered. Such also is
+the case in the department for body and contact senses (the parietal
+lobe), in which the grooves and convolutions manifest an arrangement
+identical to that of man. The lesser brain, lying as it does tucked
+away beneath the occipital pole of the superbrain, also shows marked
+increase in size, so that the subsidiary department essential to
+postures of the limbs and body, and also to balance, has kept pace
+with the superbrain. Appraised on the value of its great working
+departments, a brain like this reveals the manner in which progressive
+development has advanced.
+
+The organization for transacting the functions of hearing has been
+greatly improved, if we judge by the enlargement of the temporal lobe.
+Furthermore, it appears that certain sub-departments for handling
+these transactions have been established. They doubtless have to do
+with a better filing system for auditory impressions and especially
+for correlating the impressions of things heard with similar records
+of things seen. This method of cross reference produces a better
+understanding of all objects encountered in the surroundings. A
+practical illustration may assist in visualizing the manner in which
+such associations operate. If in their home life the chimpanzees
+are suddenly startled by the report of a gun, which they have never
+heard before, the entire family may be greatly perturbed by the
+harsh and unfamiliar sound. The sound alone might be startling and
+disagreeable, but the sound cross referenced by the sight of the
+hunter and gun comes to mean peril. Instances of this kind might be
+multiplied to show how essential to success in life this system of
+cross reference is. In fact, it is the amplification of this system
+that underlies our progress as individuals or as a race. The structural
+signs of this progress are to be found in the region of the brain
+that we have been discussing. We may recognize them in the increased
+number of convolutions which provide for better development of brain
+power. Equally pronounced are the advances that have taken place in
+the organization of body and contact senses. This department lies
+immediately above the Sylvian groove in the parietal lobe. It receives
+all communications transmitted from the outside world by the sense
+of touch and by the various movements of the body. The convolutions
+in this region indicate a highly organized department which we might
+expect in view of the remarkable performances of the chimpanzee.
+Walking a tight rope, eating his food with a certain degree of good
+manners, drilling to music, or driving an automobile, the chimpanzee
+clearly demonstrates how expert he has become in the use of his hands
+and feet. His cleverness depends upon his ability to sense the things
+he touches and to appreciate the finest grades of motion made by his
+arms and legs. In addition to this high degree of sensing in his hands,
+he has also acquired greater capacity for appreciating movements and
+postures of his entire body. Unless the chimpanzee had this expanded
+department for body and touch senses, it would be impossible for him
+to learn many of the performances which he does so skillfully. He also
+would be unable to apply this skill under the direction of his masters
+or according to the dictates of his own wishes. It is not difficult to
+understand, therefore, why all the great departments of the senses have
+increased so much in size in the chimpanzee. Obviously, by amplifying
+and refining the raw materials received as sense impressions, the
+output seen in the chimpanzee’s behaviour has been correspondingly
+amplified and extended. The significance of growth in the parietal, the
+occipital, and the temporal lobes in this light becomes clear.
+
+One important detail in the superbrain of the chimpanzee we have not
+yet considered. It will be recalled that the central groove is one
+of the salient landmarks in the brain. Its outstanding importance
+arises from the fact that it is the boundary line of the frontal
+lobe. All of the territory lying in front of this groove represents
+the last acquired department of the superbrain, the one having the
+highest authority. It is here that all of the highest brain functions
+are located. Judgment and reason are included in this list. But to
+these should be added the ability to profit by experience in the
+better guidance of life, the upbuilding of personality, and the
+proper adjustment in all courses of action requiring initiative,
+insight, restraint, and self-control; and, finally, recognition of
+responsibility and appreciation of opportunity.
+
+The frontal territory in the chimpanzee is more extensive than in the
+orang or any other of the lower apes. It shows an additional amount of
+convolution. The frontal coils for producing the brain power of this
+highest department have attained a development not far below that of
+man. The counterpart of each human convolution is present, the only
+difference being that each individual convolution in the chimpanzee is
+less complex than in man. These facts about the frontal lobe, which we
+must regard as the permanent headquarters of the chief executive of
+the superbrain, are in harmony with what Professor Köhler and other
+students of animal psychology have told us about the chimpanzee’s
+intelligence. Man’s frontal lobe is a highly complex facsimile of the
+chimpanzee’s, just as human intelligence is a more complex development
+of the higher mental powers.
+
+These improvements in the superbrain are borne out by both the
+bridge and the pyramid. The bridge, recognized as a reliable index
+of intelligence, has the value of .400 in the chimpanzee, a rating
+much above the orang or any of the lower apes already considered. The
+pyramid also shows a corresponding increase, having a value of .172,
+and thus indicating a greater development in skilled acts and in the
+voluntary control over the actions of the body. These two structures
+show that the superbrain has, in fact, become a more efficient governor
+for the guidance of a larger, a more complex, and a more effective
+machine. Every detail in the brain of chimpanzee clearly demonstrates
+the marked advance that has been made in the steady upward climb. We
+are able to identify all of the chief features characteristic of the
+human brain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ALMOST HUMAN
+
+THE BRAIN OF THE GORILLA
+
+
+The largest member of the ape world is the gorilla. There is much
+dispute to-day concerning the place he occupies in relation to man,
+and also as to what rating his intelligence deserves. Neither of these
+questions can be settled at present. His case, in fact, requires much
+more study than has yet been given to it. Recently the gorilla has
+been befriended by several famous African explorers like the Bradleys
+and the late Mr. Carl Akeley. They have given him a rather favourable
+recommendation as an inoffensive and retiring animal. In spite of this
+vindication, however, most persons who have any acquaintance with him
+regard the gorilla as a dangerous, savage brute. Standing upright, he
+is nearly as tall as the average man. Sometimes his height reaches six
+feet, and often the adult male attains the great weight of nearly four
+hundred pounds.
+
+
+_A Superlative Fighting Machine_
+
+The body of the gorilla is stout and large. His legs are short but
+his arms are extremely long. When standing erect the tips of his
+fingers reach to about the middle of the leg below the knee. His huge
+and grizzly head, flat, broad nose, prominent muzzle, large mouth,
+very large canine teeth, and protruding ears all give the animal a
+terrifying appearance.
+
+The manner in which he rises on his hind legs and makes the forest
+reverberate with his roars when attacked is one reason why the gorilla
+is considered the most savage of all beasts. His hands are large and
+thickly covered with black hair on the back. The palms of the hands
+have no hair. They possess many grooves and markings with strong human
+resemblances. The thumb is somewhat short for the size of the hand,
+but is thick and bears a broad nail. The animal’s body as well as the
+head up to the brow line is covered with thick, black, shaggy hair. The
+skull is massive and heavy. The eyes are surmounted by a heavy ridge
+of bone, and a thick bony crest extends from the bridge of the nose to
+the back of the skull along the middle of the head. All of these bony
+structures provide the gorilla with a most effective fighting helmet.
+The massive head, the short neck, the powerful arms, and the savage
+teeth create the impression of a superlative fighting machine--a sort
+of dreadnaught. But this machine has one inherent weakness. The feet
+and legs are inadequate for a finished fighter. The gorilla is able
+to assume the upright position and walks thus in an awkward manner,
+using the arms in balancing. In the main, however, he goes on all
+fours, especially when making speed through the underbrush or climbing
+among the trees. He rises upon his hind legs largely for purposes of
+inspection in order to make a survey of the surrounding territory.
+
+Many species have been identified. They all live in Africa. One variety
+inhabits the Gaboon in West Africa. It also extends into regions of
+southern and northern Cameroon, near the border of the French Congo.
+This variety of gorilla is especially adapted for forest life. Another
+type, sometimes spoken of as the mountain gorilla, inhabits mountainous
+localities in the Belgian Congo.
+
+
+_The Gorilla’s Ancient Disrepute_
+
+The gorilla has been long and unfavourably known to mankind. Ancient
+rumour of him spread abroad many unsavoury reports about his savage
+disposition. In the Fifth Century B. C. gorillas were first spoken of
+as wild, hairy men living in Africa. The Carthaginian Admiral Hanno,
+in his famous voyage to the Pillars of Hercules, appears to have been
+the first white man to encounter them. He and his comrades unexpectedly
+came upon a group of these wild people. All of the men fought so
+savagely that they made their escape, but Hanno and his friends were
+able to capture three of the women. These females were so ferocious
+and unfriendly that it was necessary to kill them. Their skins were
+preserved, taken to Carthage, and there placed in the Temple of Juno,
+where they were held sacred until that city was destroyed.
+
+The famous explorer, Paul Du Chaillu, in his _Explorations and
+Adventures in Equatorial Africa_ describes the gorilla as gregarious.
+He found them going about in companies of eight or ten. Sometimes the
+older males become superannuated. Then they live solitary lives apart
+from these small communities. When grown old they appear actually
+grizzled with age, and the hair, which in youth is black, becomes
+almost white. Du Chaillu was probably the first European to kill a
+gorilla in its native forest. His description of their habits was
+thought to be an exaggeration, but later information largely upholds
+his opinion. He believed that the gorilla did not, as often claimed,
+lurk in the trees just above the roadside in order to reach down with
+his great arms and snatch up the unsuspecting passer-by. He discredited
+the ancient story that these animals attack elephants and beat them
+to death with sticks, and that they carry off native women to devour
+them in the depths of the forest. He did not even believe that the
+gorilla built itself houses or nests from twigs among the trees, or
+that large bands of them made attacks upon men whose homes were in the
+neighbourhood of the forest. Du Chaillu reported that the gorilla lives
+in the loneliest portions of the dense African jungle. It is seldom
+found in the same place two days in succession. It prefers deep wooded
+valleys or rugged heights and roams about over a large area in search
+of food. It consumes a large amount of food, such as pineapple leaves,
+berries, wild sugar cane, and other vegetable matter. The animal sleeps
+sitting on the ground with its back against the trunk of a tree, and
+when full-grown seldom ascends high among the branches. The young sleep
+in the trees, and possibly the females may occasionally do so.
+
+
+_Like Some Monster of a Nightmare_
+
+In spite of their reputation to the contrary, the gorillas are in
+reality shy. The female will run to shelter at the first sound of
+alarm, carrying her young one with her. The male, however, is less
+hurried in his retreat. In fact, he seems to act upon the theory that
+the best defense is an attack. He rises up on his hind legs for a
+moment, showing his savage face among the underbrush. Then, glaring at
+the intruder, he begins to beat his chest with his closed fists, at
+the same time uttering a deep, terrifying roar. This sound begins at
+first as several loud barks like those of a dog and then changes to a
+deep-throated growl, which is emitted with redoubled force, causing
+echoes in the forest like distant thunder. Du Chaillu said that the
+horror of the animal’s appearance at this time is beyond description.
+It seems like some monster of a nightmare, an indescribable piece of
+hideousness.
+
+In walking, the gorilla waddles from side to side as he proceeds upon
+his hind legs. Meanwhile, in order to balance himself, he swings his
+great arms at his sides, which makes him appear more determined and
+awe-inspiring. When attacking, his features are distorted by hideous
+wrinkles, and his lips are drawn back revealing long fangs in the
+powerful jaws by which a human limb could easily be crushed.
+
+The celebrated African explorer, Mr. Akeley, has pointed out that there
+is no difficulty in shooting the gorilla. In fact, against modern
+firearms this animal is as defenseless as a crippled woman. Such
+hunting is thoroughly distasteful and seems to be an atrocity closely
+akin to murder. It was due to Mr. Akeley’s efforts that the King of
+Belgium recently set aside a large territory in the Congo as a gorilla
+sanctuary, in which all hunting of this animal is prohibited. Here, in
+the vicinity of the three extinct volcanoes, Mt. Keno, Mt. Karissimbi,
+and Mt. Visake, Mr. Akeley hoped that a biological station might be
+established for the further study of the gorilla’s behaviour. In this
+sanctuary, now known as Albert National Park, he believed it would
+be possible to gain a footing on close and intimate terms with this
+gigantic ape. Mr. Akeley was convinced that the gorilla’s reputation
+for ferocity was greatly exaggerated, and that the animal was actually
+a timid and retiring beast. This new estimate of the gorilla’s
+disposition gives encouragement to the expectation that in time this
+fast-disappearing offshoot of the prehuman stock may furnish its full
+testimony concerning the evolutionary process.
+
+
+_Training the Young Gorilla_
+
+In adult life the gorilla is untamable. If captured young, as much may
+be done with it as with many other apes in captivity. The following
+account of a gorilla’s life in civilization, given by Miss Alyse
+Cunningham, of London, testifies to this fact. It is the story of the
+young gorilla called “John Daniel the First.” The record was made by
+Miss Cunningham herself. At first she had no fancy for this animal; in
+fact, she felt rather a dislike for anything in the shape of a monkey
+or an ape, but she soon became interested in the young gorilla and took
+his education seriously in hand. The animal was presented to her by her
+nephew, Major Penny, shortly after the end of the Great War. He was
+much interested in apes and bought the gorilla with the idea of seeing
+how much mentality it possessed and how much it could be developed.
+John Daniel was captured when very young in the French Gaboon country
+and came to England when he was about three years of age. Major Penny
+first saw the young gorilla on exhibition, during the Christmas
+holidays, in a large show window of a well-known shop in London. The
+animal attracted much attention and large crowds gathered daily to
+watch him. As a dry-goods advertisement he was a splendid investment,
+but unfortunately at that time he was suffering from rickets. With
+the severe changes of weather in the Christmas season he contracted
+an attack of influenza. On this account his owners were compelled to
+retire him from his advertising post and found themselves at their
+wit’s end to know what to do with this sick infant gorilla. When he was
+finally sold to Major Penny his original owners did not think he would
+survive for very long. In this respect their calculations went astray.
+Miss Cunningham took the sickly gorilla, nursed him as she would a
+child, brought him through his influenza, and so successfully cared
+for him that during the next three years he reached the weight of 112
+pounds and the height of three feet four and a half inches. Meanwhile,
+he acquired many of the habits and adjustments necessary to fit him as
+an interesting if somewhat unusual member of the household.
+
+
+_John Daniel the First_
+
+We are indebted to Miss Cunningham for the excellent account of his
+life, which indicates the extent to which this great ape may be
+trained and educated. Little John, immediately after his recovery from
+influenza, began to show some singularly childlike emotions. He was
+gentle and affectionate in response to the tender care he received. But
+he became too much attached to his new and kind friends. His devotion
+in this respect created some difficult situations in the household.
+If he were left by himself at night he would shriek from fear and
+loneliness. Perhaps he remembered the long and cheerless nights when
+he was a Christmas exhibit in the department store. In any event,
+Miss Cunningham was forced to treat him just as she would any little
+child. She coaxed and soothed and petted him until she had allayed his
+fears. Then he would become quiet and fall asleep. But even this was
+not sufficient. It soon became necessary to place her nephew’s bed
+in the room adjoining the cage of the gorilla. Apparently he craved
+companionship of some kind and at length became quite happy under this
+new arrangement.
+
+John soon began to grow and to put on weight. He gradually got over his
+rickets. At first he was taught to be clean in his habits by a system
+of rewards and punishments. At the end of six weeks he was thoroughly
+housebroken. At this time he was taken out of his cage and allowed the
+freedom of the house. Thereafter, John would always run upstairs to the
+bathroom of his own accord. He would turn the knob of a door and took
+pains to see that he always left it closed behind him. He showed strong
+likes and dislikes in the matter of food. There was one feature that
+always puzzled Miss Cunningham in this respect. Generally speaking,
+John was not a thief. He manifested average honesty, but when it came
+to food he much preferred to steal it than have it given to him. It
+was difficult to understand the motive underlying this course of
+action. There were some things about it that seemed to indicate a real
+satisfaction derived from stealing, due, perhaps, to an outcropping of
+his native cunning. Perhaps it was the consequence of a well-recognized
+quality of natural aloofness characteristic of the gorilla in general
+that made John Daniel averse to receiving favours from others. He would
+always avoid any food that had been exposed to the air for long. He
+was particularly fond of oranges and apples, but would never eat them
+if they had been cut a few hours. John had what almost amounted to a
+passion for eating roses. The more beautiful they were, the more he
+seemed to like them, but nothing would induce him to eat faded roses.
+Nuts he did not much care for, although at times he showed a liking for
+walnuts. A cocoanut was always a problem to him. It was most amusing to
+see how he went about this problem. He understood that it was necessary
+to break the cocoanut. First he would throw it upon the floor, but
+failing to break it this way he would finally bring it to one of the
+members of the family with an appealing look for help. If given a
+hammer he would use it viciously on the nut, but never effectively.
+After several failures John would take the nut and the hammer to
+someone, indicating what he wanted.
+
+
+_John’s Social Behaviour_
+
+John had a good understanding of tools, almost too good, in fact. In
+consequence, hammers, chisels, and saws were kept in hiding, and if
+John happened to find them he was apt to indulge in a somewhat ruthless
+carpentry on the household furniture. From his babyhood, and while he
+was growing up, he was always fond of people. He liked to have them
+come to visit him at his home. Far from being timid and shy, he was
+quite the reverse. Whenever there were visitors he always liked to show
+off, just like a child. He would take the visitor by the hand and lead
+him round and round the room. This amused John greatly, and if his
+guest responded playfully all went well, but if there was any sign of
+nervousness or fear John took an impish delight and would run by the
+visitor, giving him a smack on the leg. Then, perching himself on a
+chair, he would grin foolishly at his own mischief. This was the only
+blemish on his company manners, and he always appeared a bit shamefaced
+when rebuked for such misbehaviour. He did not, however, go the length
+of making apologetic overtures to his offended visitor, but kept
+himself aloof with an air of injured innocence.
+
+Miss Cunningham had few misgivings about John when she had company in
+the home. He was always very obedient to her and seemed to recognize
+that her wishes were law. It hurt him apparently to be guilty of
+any act which caused her displeasure, and while sometimes he would
+perpetrate some mischief on the sly he would always be on his best
+behaviour when he felt Miss Cunningham’s eye upon him. His table
+manners were rather good. He always sat at the table, and when the
+meal was ready would pull up his chair to the designated place. He
+never cared for great quantities of food, and his actions at table
+required little, if any, more reproval than did an ordinary child. He
+was especially fond of drinking water from a tumbler. He always took
+afternoon tea with the family. He had a particular liking for this
+beverage and with it would eat a thin slice of bread with plenty of
+jam. He also liked his demi-tasse of coffee after dinner. The family
+estimate of him was generally high. He was regarded as the least greedy
+of all the animals that had ever come under the observation of his
+owners. He would never snatch for anything at the table, and he always
+ate slowly. He was accustomed to drink large quantities of water,
+which he got for himself whenever he wanted it by turning on the tap.
+Strangely enough, he always turned off the water when he had finished
+drinking.
+
+
+_A Gorilla with a Sense of Humour_
+
+John Daniel had a very good opinion of himself. He was quite well
+poised and self-contained. Nothing seemed to ruffle him, and he could
+amuse himself in simple ways by the hour. He seemed to believe that his
+own estimate of himself was shared by others and appeared confident
+that everyone was delighted to see him. Often he would stand on the
+window sill and throw up the shade. In a short time a large crowd
+would collect on the street below to watch this unusual sight at the
+window. He enjoyed such publicity immensely and would stand watching
+the people for a long time. Once in a while, if the crowd grew very
+large, he would pull the shade down deliberately in their faces and run
+away shrieking with laughter, in a way which seemed to indicate that
+he was conscious of having perpetrated a huge joke upon his audience
+outside. Of course, this entire reaction and the motives underlying it
+are open to several interpretations. Skeptics will say that the version
+here given endows the gorilla with attributes more human than he could
+possibly possess. However that may be, those who actually observed
+these performances were impressed by the fact that John Daniel did act
+in a seemingly human manner.
+
+
+_Fondness for Little Children_
+
+John was especially attached to Miss Cunningham’s three-year-old
+niece, who often came with her mother to stay at the house. They
+would play together by the hour. The gorilla seemed to know just what
+this little girl wanted him to do. If she cried for any reason, when
+her mother came to pick her up, John would give the mother’s hand a
+nip with his teeth or slap her with the full weight of his palm,
+apparently thinking that she was the cause of the child’s grief. One
+day Miss Cunningham was dressed for going out, and John Daniel wished
+to sit on her lap to bid her good-bye. It chanced that her gown was a
+light-coloured one, and she pushed him away, saying that she feared he
+might soil her dress. Poor John was deeply distressed. At once he lay
+down on the floor and cried like a baby for a moment. Then he looked
+around the room, found a newspaper, laid it on Miss Cunningham’s lap,
+and climbed up on it. This was the cleverest thing he had ever done.
+Those who saw it said they would not have believed it had they not
+themselves been present.
+
+
+_Like a Child in Play_
+
+John Daniel apparently could stand a good deal of cold weather. He
+would often climb out on the roof when the thermometer was below the
+freezing point. He did not seem to mind how cold it was so long as he
+could come back into a warm room when he wanted to. Then he would go
+directly to the fire, rub his chest, and sit down with his feet cocked
+up on the fender. Exercise was necessary to keep him in good health,
+and John got much of this by playing hide-and-seek with Major Penny.
+In the morning before breakfast and in the evening before dinner the
+Major would run up and down stairs, in and out of all the rooms. The
+game appeared to delight the gorilla, who would giggle and laugh while
+being chased. He never took any chances about going into a dark room,
+however. Invariably he would make sure to turn on the light first.
+
+It was his habit to retire each night at eight o’clock, and it was not
+necessary to tell him to do so more than once. He had his own little
+room adjoining that of Miss Cunningham’s nephew, in which he had a
+spring bed of his own, with blankets and pillows. At night he would
+get up out of bed by himself, go back to bed, and pull the blankets
+up over himself quite neatly. One of John’s greatest pleasures was to
+stand on the top rail at the foot of the bed and jump on the springs,
+just like a little child. He was never taught any tricks, but simply
+acquired knowledge by himself. In the summer time John was taken by
+train to the family’s cottage in the country. He occupied his seat in
+the railway coach like any other passenger, without so much as a chain
+around his neck. When out of doors the broad fields and open country
+seemed to terrify him, but he was singularly happy and contented in the
+quiet garden or in the woods. He seemed to fear full-grown sheep, cows,
+and horses, but colts, calves, and lambs attracted and amused him. It
+seemed to those who cared for him that he recognized youth and was
+sympathetically drawn to it.
+
+
+_John Becomes Famous_
+
+As the years passed he became more devotedly attached to the family.
+If left alone he would make a great noise, shrieking and crying. This
+tendency increased, so that after three years it was necessary to make
+some other arrangement for him. Through a misunderstanding which his
+owners have always regretted, John was sold to a circus. He was taken
+across the Atlantic to New York. Here, after a month’s separation from
+his devoted friends during which time he refused to take food and
+showed every sign of real homesickness, he died in the tower of the old
+Madison Square Garden, in April, 1921.
+
+Many of the New York daily papers published a notice of this remarkable
+ape’s death, telling how the gorilla, John Daniel, homesick and
+disconsolate without those who had befriended him, died of a broken
+heart. The skeleton and taxidermic preparation of this gorilla, who has
+contributed so much to our knowledge and understanding of the great
+apes, may be seen in the anthropoid collection in the American Museum
+of Natural History, bearing the label “John Daniel.”
+
+
+_A Gorilla at Afternoon Tea_
+
+As an interesting sequel to this history of what appears to be the
+first gorilla raised under the conditions of such intimate domestic
+life, it may be added that Miss Cunningham secured another gorilla,
+which she called “John Daniel the Second.” John Daniel the First was
+a little over six years old when he died and was then less than half
+grown. These two great apes resembled each other closely in their
+emotional reactions and in their responses to training. Both were about
+of the same age. John the Second was perhaps a less likable individual
+and had a disposition more in keeping with the ancient reputation
+of gorillas. Several years ago, while he was visiting in New York, a
+number of scientists were invited to have afternoon tea with him at a
+certain fashionable hotel. On this occasion the troglodyte host was
+found seated in a comfortable chair. He displayed much gravity and
+apparent enjoyment as he drank from a cup of tea. During the course of
+conversation John the Second was for a moment not the actual centre
+of attention. Suddenly he dashed across the room with unbelievable
+swiftness and attacked one of his visitors with repeated rapid blows of
+both fists in the neighbourhood of the solar plexus. Just as quickly
+he hopped over the foot of the bed and from this point of vantage
+watched the discomfiture of his guest. A moment later, when less
+sharply watched, he hurled his full weight in most approved football
+style against a distinguished professor of zoölogy, who, as a result,
+was thrown from his chair. In the intervals between these presumably
+playful diversions this powerful gorilla sat quietly. Yet, in spite
+of his innocent demeanour, one was suspicious that he was casting
+about for the next piece of mischief that he might perpetrate. There
+was a degree of roughness and sudden strength in the playfulness of
+this young gorilla that afforded some idea of the terrific power these
+animals must possess when full grown.
+
+The attractive prospect of a biological station in Africa, as
+suggested by the late Carl E. Akeley, for the study of the gorilla is
+inspiring. It should be possible under these circumstances for one
+scientifically inclined to saunter into the jungle of a morning, call
+to some particularly promising gorilla, and with the troglodyte spend
+many profitable hours in biological study. If the full-grown gorilla,
+however, is anything like John Daniel the Second, this studious
+occupation might not prove so simple. Indeed, it seems probable that
+only the most hardy of human adventurers will ever enjoy the privileges
+of anything approaching a familiar acquaintance with these giant apes.
+Such adventurers may live to report that the great brutes have acquired
+no marked degree of gentleness even in their own gorilla sanctuary.
+
+
+_The Art of Capturing Young Gorillas_
+
+On a number of occasions young gorillas have been captured alive. Mr.
+Ben Burbridge, using some clever tactics, has succeeded in capturing
+several small gorillas. The approved style of such hunting is to lure
+the young animal away from the older gorillas; then, grasping the
+throat, force it to the ground until helpers arrive to slip a stout
+bag over its head. On one occasion Mr. Burbridge succeeded in artfully
+luring a gorilla from the rest of his family. He at once proceeded to
+seize him in the usual manner. Immediately he realized that he had
+caught a tartar. The young gorilla was much stronger than any man, and
+grasping both of Mr. Burbridge’s hands he forced them into his savage
+mouth. Nothing but iron nerve and quickness of wit would have saved a
+man under these circumstances. Realizing his inability to overpower the
+gorilla or free himself from its vise-like grip, Mr. Burbridge did the
+only thing left for him to do. He thrust his hands down the animal’s
+throat as far as they would go. Several natives finally succeeded in
+overpowering and binding the young giant. The first burlap bag put
+over his head he split asunder like a piece of gauze. At length he was
+bound and carried off to camp. But this young monarch of the volcanic
+mountain sides would not accept captivity. He was unapproachable and so
+actively hostile that he soon died. Later, Mr. Burbridge succeeded in
+capturing and bringing home to Florida a small female gorilla, weighing
+sixty-five pounds, which he called “Congo the Second.”
+
+
+_Professor Yerkes Studies “Congo the Second”_
+
+We are extremely fortunate that this gorilla has been studied by
+Professor Yerkes, who in a book recently published, called _The Mind
+of a Gorilla_, has given us another of his brilliant works on animal
+behaviour. This is a most readable account of Congo’s actions, and
+those who wish further information will derive much pleasure from
+Professor Yerkes’s story. All of his observations are illuminating and
+helpful in understanding the brain of this great troglodyte.
+
+The mountain gorilla, as Professor Yerkes points out, is built for
+strength rather than speed. Congo, although still in her childhood,
+and weighing only sixty-five pounds, was amazingly strong. She could
+lift weights and overcome resistances that required the full strength
+of a grown man. In her play with a young Airedale terrier she became
+so rough that the dog finally avoided her. Her climbing among the
+trees, about which she seemed eager, was scarcely any better than that
+of an active small boy. It was easy to outrun her and throw her off
+her balance. The tremendous strength of the gorilla must, therefore,
+be looked upon as the real secret of his success in life. Without this
+strength he probably would not have survived, since he has neither the
+skill in climbing nor the speed upon the ground to escape his deadly
+enemies. His deadliest foe is the leopard. This stealthy and powerful
+cat often steals up to a gorilla family and snatches away the little
+ones. The gorilla’s sole defense against the leopard is his gigantic
+strength. If at present this great ape is threatened with extinction it
+is because his natural enemies are increasing in number. Man with his
+modern equipments must be listed among these hostile contemporaries.
+For ages the struggle between the gorilla and his enemies in the jungle
+has been going on relentlessly. The great ape has been able to maintain
+that margin of superiority which permitted his kind to come down into
+modern times.
+
+Professor Yerkes devised a series of tests for determining the mental
+capacity of the young gorilla, Congo the Second. These were arranged in
+several groups such as the following:
+
+1. The use of the stick as an implement.
+
+2. The use of simple mechanisms showing adaptive ability.
+
+3. The uses of boxes and piling boxes.
+
+4. Tests for memory.
+
+5. Observations of social relations.
+
+6. Study of emotions and incentives to action.
+
+
+_The Mind of a Gorilla_
+
+In all, twenty-four tests were employed in the experiments to fathom
+Congo’s mind. Among them were the stick used as an implement, a
+buried jar of food, food suspended and made accessible by using the
+stick, food suspended and made accessible by piling boxes one on top
+of another, the use of hammer and nail in imitation of a man using
+the same implements, the mirror test and the animal’s reaction to
+the looking-glass. Professor Yerkes carried on his studies through
+a number of weeks on two different occasions. The first series was
+conducted in January, 1926, and the second series, largely repeating
+the conditions of the first, in January, 1927. During this time the
+little gorilla had grown and prospered. She had doubled her weight in
+twelve months and she manifested many changes in her behaviour. In
+the first place, she had become somewhat destructive, although when
+she first came to Shady Nook in Florida this was not the case. Her
+curiosity had increased as had also her powers of imitation and her
+emotional expressions. She was much more self-reliant and likewise more
+coöperative. She showed a very considerable improvement in her ability
+to solve the problems of the several tests given to her. In using
+the stick she manifested greater cleverness and adaptability, with
+some indications of real insight into the situations that confronted
+her. There were signs also that she had gained a greater degree of
+adaptability in the use of simple mechanisms. These appliances in her
+earlier tests baffled Congo, but upon repetition a year later she not
+only gave evidence of memory concerning the tests but also had more
+ability in solving the problems which she had previously failed to
+master. She showed much improvement, particularly in piling boxes one
+upon another. Certain memory tests, which were unsuccessful in January,
+1926, were quite successfully performed in January, 1927. Heretofore,
+no animal except man has been capable of correct response in these
+particular memory tests. Congo’s success possibly demonstrates the
+existence of a mechanism in the gorilla brain that is possessed by the
+most highly organized animals only. It is this mechanism, doubtless,
+which distinguishes man and the great apes from all other mammals.
+Buried food tests also demonstrated an ability to remember after
+intervals of one or two days. Congo’s emotions likewise had changed.
+At first she appeared aloof, independent, and inexpressive. She still
+remained reserved, and although playful she was highly self-controlled.
+Her emotional expression by voice, face, and attitude was rare, and
+seldom appeared in response to definite provocation. Her incentives
+and motives seemed much more complex than in lower animals, like rats
+and guinea pigs. Congo was moody, having her good days and bad days in
+doing the tests. The inducements offered her to perform certain acts
+did not have the same certainty that they have with lower animals. In
+her social relations she was extremely simple. She apparently gained
+an increased interest in those with whom she was familiar and also with
+strangers. She enjoyed visitors and acted in a limited way to entertain
+them. Seeing herself in the looking-glass, she had a marked interest
+in her image. In the second series of tests her interest in the mirror
+seemed more intelligent than the first. In sexual interest Congo showed
+a marked development. At first she manifested nothing resembling
+sex play, but in the course of the year this became evident in her
+relations with her dog companions and other objects. Ultimately she had
+a decided preference for the male dog.
+
+
+_Mental Comparisons of the Great Manlike Apes_
+
+Professor Yerkes’s comparison of the behaviour of the three great apes,
+the orang, the chimpanzee, and the gorilla, is particularly interesting
+and important. He carefully guards his statement by acknowledging that
+these are rough comparisons based on the intimate study of only a few
+individual apes. The physical differences between these anthropoids may
+have a definite bearing upon their mental characters. The chimpanzee
+is well but lightly built. The orang, in contrast, is loosely built,
+with arms that seem much too long and liable to be in the way. The
+gorilla is stocky, somewhat clumsy, but of impressively strong build.
+The general disposition of these three apes varies somewhat according
+to their physiques. The chimpanzee is sanguine, buoyant, alert, and
+snappy. The orang-outang is melancholy and taciturn. The gorilla is
+reserved and aloof almost to the point of manifesting a superiority
+complex. In their attitude toward others and things in general this
+same difference is observed. The chimpanzee is preëminently a leader
+in playfulness and invention of ways to amuse himself. He is quick,
+impulsive, energetic, and comical. He has much enthusiasm and optimism,
+all of which makes him the showman’s prize. The orang is more slow
+and cautious, with little impulsiveness and no show of optimism. He
+seems more stable and dependable than the chimpanzee. He is certainly
+more readily depressed and discouraged than his livelier cousin. The
+gorilla is calm, reserved, cool, and calculating. His disposition
+is quite the opposite of that of the chimpanzee. The terms sullen,
+morose, ferocious, and unrelenting did not, however, apply to Congo,
+who was placid, self-dependent, and usually superior to the incidents
+of her artificial life in captivity. In curiosity the chimpanzee heads
+the list. The orang is a close second. The gorilla may be stirred to
+curiosity, but under such circumstances usually acts as though he
+considered himself superior to such childish indulgence. The manner
+and methods of learning in these three great apes are remarkably
+interesting. In learning by imitation from man, the chimpanzee has
+a long lead. The orang is not entirely unsuccessful in this matter,
+but the gorilla, especially as typified by Congo, shows an actual
+resistance to learning by imitation of man. The ability to acquire
+new habits and adjustments to life by means of trial and error
+shows that the great apes rank as follows: Chimpanzee first, orang
+second, gorilla third. Learning by ideas, experience, insight, and
+understanding seems to reverse this order and puts the gorilla at the
+head of the list.
+
+Professor Yerkes appears to think that, as compared with chimpanzees
+and orangs of like age, Congo was remarkably slow in adapting herself
+and was more limited in initiative, originality, and insight. He
+concludes that the general tendency to rate the gorilla in a mentally
+higher class than the chimpanzee or orang finds no support from his
+study of Congo. He also believes that conclusions based on a single
+specimen of this great ape are not sufficient to determine the mental
+rating of the gorilla. This animal, like the chimpanzee and the orang,
+indeed like man himself, has great individual variations in mental
+development.
+
+Such records as those of John Daniel, First and Second, made by
+observers little trained in the technical methods of behavioural study,
+must of course be accepted with some reservations. Viewed in the light
+of Professor Yerkes’s studies on Congo, they do afford an illuminating
+picture of the gorilla’s mental capacity, disposition, and ability to
+learn. To say the least, in all of these qualifications the largest
+of the great apes is strikingly human. Its brain, which weighs and
+measures more than that of other apes, is in many respects nearer to
+the brain of man. In the gorilla’s brain it is possible to discern
+the process by which the progressive development of this organ has
+made great strides. All of the landmarks of the superbrain are more
+distinctly human in their arrangement and disposition than in the
+chimpanzee or orang. If the chimpanzee’s brain is a human miniature,
+the resemblance to man in gorilla has become still more striking. The
+position of the Sylvian groove and of the ape groove marks the boundary
+of the two great departments of sight and hearing. In the gorilla
+both of these have increased the area for radiating brain power. The
+convolutions in both of these regions bear a close resemblance to those
+of the human brain. This similarity is likewise true in the department
+for body and contact sense, where the convolutions have increased in
+complexity as well as in relative size. The central groove forms the
+boundary for a well-defined frontal lobe. If it were possible to make
+a measurable contrast of this permanent headquarters for the higher
+faculties in gorilla to that of chimpanzee, it seems fair to say that
+the gorilla would show some slight advantage. This advantage may
+account for the gorilla’s greater reserve, which in some ways indicates
+a more mature attitude toward life, especially when compared to the
+restless and more childlike behaviour of the chimpanzee.
+
+
+_Secret of the Gorilla’s Survival_
+
+Professor Yerkes would perhaps be unwilling on the strength of his
+studies to admit any measurable degree of superiority on the part of
+the gorilla’s mentality over the chimpanzee. Unquestionably this is a
+proper point of view in the light of those great apes which have been
+available for experiment and investigation. In the main, such gorillas
+have been both too young and too few in number to permit any just
+estimate of their real ability. One fact in their history does speak
+forcibly in behalf of their mental superiority over all other apes. In
+form and physique the gorilla occupies an intermediate position. He is
+not well adapted for great successes living upon the ground. He is too
+heavy to capitalize the full advantages of living in the trees. Added
+to this is the fact that he is both slow and clumsy. His one physical
+asset in the struggle for life is his gigantic strength. By means of
+this advantage he has been able to meet all comers of the wild, to
+contend with such deadly enemies as the leopards and other members
+of the great cat family. He has eked out an existence in a territory
+filled with all manner of hazards. Yet in spite of his handicaps he has
+not only held his place in nature but he has kept his line a vital and
+going concern with all the increasing odds against him. This success
+in adjustment must depend upon something more than mere chance. We are
+perhaps fair in assuming that added to his chief asset of brute-like
+strength there have been certain superior mental qualities derived from
+a superbrain and particularly from a frontal lobe which surpassed that
+of all his animal competitors.
+
+The index of his powers to adjust himself to a strenuous life is shown
+by his bridge (_pons_). This gives him a rating of .480, which is
+still higher than in the case of the chimpanzee. Most interesting in
+this connection is the fact that the pyramid in the gorilla is .161,
+which is considerably less than in the chimpanzee. The pyramid, as
+will be recalled, indicates the degree of skill that an animal has in
+controlling its voluntary movements; that is, in making its muscles act
+in many and varied ways according to the dictates of the will. That the
+agile, speedy, and acrobatic chimpanzee should surpass the clumsy and
+slow-moving gorilla in this particular might be expected. In almost
+every other detail of its development the brain of the gorilla is
+nearer to man than is the brain of any other ape, great or small. Those
+who have studied this question are fully convinced of the near approach
+in brain structure which all three of the great manlike apes make to
+the human brain. If any final estimation is justified at the present
+time, the gorilla’s brain appears to be the most advanced of all the
+apes and is, in fact, almost human.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+HUMAN AT LAST
+
+THE BRAIN OF PREHISTORIC MAN
+
+
+Those individual characteristics which distinguish the orang,
+chimpanzee, and gorilla may be easily recognized. Yet, notwithstanding
+their striking differences, these animals all belong to the same
+family, called the _Simiidæ_. As a family this was and still remains
+the highest in the ape world. All of the great apes manifest certain
+pronounced manlike tendencies. Up to this point they were progressive,
+but beyond it they did not go. They were not equipped to reach the
+upper footholds or to gain the vast plateaus on the top of the world.
+This last achievement remained for another, who, being freed from many
+simian restrictions, had already outstripped the anthropoids.
+
+
+_Human Superiority_
+
+As a machine, this newcomer in the animal world was more effective than
+any of his forerunners. His human superiority was not due to higher
+speed, greater strength, or better staying powers. Many of his animal
+competitors could far outdistance him, could easily overpower him,
+could surpass him in endurance. He did, however, have an exceptional
+advantage. He was able to combine these essential qualities with
+many others in a variety of ways and thus gain an ultimate supremacy.
+In the end it was better brain power that raised man above his lower
+contemporaries and set him on his path toward human success. This new
+power of his did not come all at once. It needed the steady effort of
+ages to reach its present development. Compared with the existence
+of other species, the human race is relatively young. In point of
+geologic time so also is the human brain. Many students are agreed
+that temporally and in other respects our brain has scarcely outgrown
+its childhood. The brain power of to-day may require further ages of
+development to attain its highest possibilities.
+
+When man first appeared on earth he had much in common with the
+great apes. Although not descended from them, he had inherited with
+them many qualities from a common ancestor. It is now settled beyond
+question that in earliest times the human brain possessed all of the
+basic patterns and mechanisms still to be found in the gorilla, the
+chimpanzee, and the orang. It had one fundamental advantage that
+greatly improved its capacity for developing its power. Expansion was
+the secret of this advantage. It was apparent in all parts of the
+superbrain, but most prominent in the department of the highest mental
+faculties, the frontal lobe. We may discern this great advance at a
+glance by comparing the sloping, narrow foreheads of the great apes
+with the high and prominent brow of man. The frontal lobe gradually
+pushed forward over the eyes, and in consequence the forehead slowly
+rose above them. It seems fair to say that as the brow grew higher
+through successive stages the race gradually rose in humanity. We are
+still much in the dark concerning the early phases of this slow rise
+to power. Some of the stages, it is probable, we shall never know. On
+the other hand, a large number of human fossils have been found during
+the past century. From these it is possible to decipher what the human
+brain must have been like at certain critical periods of man’s long
+journey. The brain, like all other soft parts of the body, disappears
+in time after death. How is it possible, therefore, to speak about the
+brains of men long since dead, or of races long ago extinct?
+
+
+_The Fossil Records of Man_
+
+It is true that only the bones of ancient peoples remain to tell us
+what they were like. Many of these bones have become fossilized by
+impregnation with minerals and are, so to speak, turned into stone.
+Thus they make an enduring record of man’s bony framework. From these
+petrified bones we can read many things about the people of the past to
+whom they belonged. We can measure their height, determine the manner
+in which they held their bodies in walking, and estimate their muscular
+strength. We may even rebuild their bodies about their skeletons by
+using certain standard measurements and so gain a fair idea of what
+these men must have looked like when alive. From the shape of the head
+it is possible to decide whether the jaw was massive and protruding,
+or of modern type; whether the cheek bones were heavy and prominent
+or relatively inconspicuous; whether the forehead was low and receding
+or high and broad; whether the nose was flattened or had a high nasal
+bridge; whether the chin was weakly developed or large and firm;
+whether the brain case was small, round, and narrow, or long, high
+vaulted, and capacious.
+
+
+_Brain Casts of Extinct Races of Men_
+
+Many other characters of extinct races may be determined by means
+of exact measurement. So much has already been accomplished in this
+way that it is possible to reproduce a reasonable facsimile of races
+that vanished long ago. It is possible also to reproduce a reasonable
+likeness of their brains. Reproductions of this kind depend upon the
+use of the fossil skulls as molds from which plaster of Paris casts
+are made. Upon the inner surface of the skull the brain makes certain
+definite impressions. It leaves grooves in the bone where great
+arteries run. It shows deep indentations caused by the convolutions. It
+contains other landmarks indicating the size and position of certain
+prominent features in the brain. These casts do not show the brain
+characters in all their sharp details because within the skull the
+brain is covered by three layers of membranes and surrounded by a thin
+jacket of fluid. In consequence, all of the prominent characters,
+although easily recognized, are somewhat veiled. It is for this reason
+that we are unable to detect every coil and groove in a brain cast
+of a fossil skull. We may, however, discern many important features
+and thus form an accurate estimate concerning the brain characters
+of several prehistoric races of man. Many casts of this kind are now
+available for study.
+
+It is probable that a number of distinct species of prehistoric races
+have passed away leaving no trace of themselves. Even the bones of
+man’s body gradually crumble into dust unless, by some fortuitous
+circumstance, they are slowly converted into stone through the
+deposit of mineral salts. It seems likely that only a few of man’s
+skeletal remains have been preserved for us in this manner. By far
+the vast majority have gone the way of all flesh and most bones. The
+few precious relics that we thus far have had the good fortune to
+discover are treasured as rare possessions. They tell us in a somewhat
+disconnected way of many ancient people who have lived long before our
+times. Yet, however disconnected this story may be, however wide its
+gaps, however serious its omissions, it would be improper to overlook
+the fossil evidence of these early people. The fossilized relics must
+be permitted to set forth the story which they have to tell while we
+endeavour to keep our interpretations within the bounds imposed upon us
+by the nature of the evidence.
+
+
+_Brain of Java Ape Man_
+
+The brain cast representing the most ancient race of men yet discovered
+is that of the ape man of Java (_Pithecanthropus erectus_). Dr. Eugen
+Du Bois, when he made his wonderful discovery in Java, found almost
+the entire skull cap of this primitive man, who lived somewhere between
+500,000 and 1,000,000 years ago. His brain was remarkably small. It was
+not nearly so large as our modern brain or even as the brain of many
+other prehistoric people. Its capacity was only 940 cubic centimetres.
+This is small for a human brain, which ranges between 1000 to 1400
+cubic centimetres. But if it is small for a man, it is much larger
+than any ape brain. An interesting comparison as to the size of the
+ape man’s brain is afforded when the brains of a large gorilla, of the
+Java ape man, and of a modern man are placed side by side. At once the
+differences are apparent. The brain we are now considering clearly
+occupies an intermediate position between the gorilla and modern man.
+
+The striking feature about the brain of the lowly ape man is the
+great expansion which has taken place in the department and permanent
+headquarters of the highest mental faculties--the frontal lobe.
+Compared with the brain of the gorilla, there can be no dispute as to
+the great advantages held by the ape man in this part of his brain. The
+convolutions are plainly shown in this frontal area. In fact, these
+coils are more prominent in this region than elsewhere. This fact does
+not imply that the convolutions in the brain are supreme in the frontal
+lobe of the ape man. If they seem less prominent in the other lobes
+it is only because the frontal coils in all cases make more positive
+impressions upon the skull. It is fortunate, though, that these coils
+may be so clearly seen in that region of the superbrain which reveals
+the development of the highest faculties. We should also bear in
+mind that this department of the chief executive in the frontal lobe
+is preëminently a human possession. A comparison with the gorilla’s
+brain shows at once the great expansion which has occurred in the most
+responsible portion of man’s superbrain. In consequence of such frontal
+growth the human race distinguished itself in creation by acquiring all
+that is implied in the title _Homo sapiens_ (man of wisdom).
+
+Another decisive feature appears in this frontal region. The left
+convolutions are slightly larger than those on the right side. In
+all probability this difference in size indicates that a highly
+characteristic human quality has already been introduced. In the ape
+man the right hand already appears to have become the leader in all the
+varied skillful performances of manual achievement.
+
+
+_Speech_
+
+In this early period it seems likely that man was using his hands
+for constructive purposes. Of far more significance and bearing
+more decisively upon the destiny of humanity is the appearance of a
+well-marked coil in the lower portion of this frontal lobe on the left
+side. In all living races of man this convolution is associated with
+the control of spoken language. From this specialization it is apparent
+that the ape man had acquired the powers of speech. Even if his frontal
+lobe were small, it far surpassed that of any ape however highly
+developed.
+
+It is clear from these facts that the primitive ape man of Java had
+risen to a plane far above the gorilla, although he was still much
+below that of modern man. Visualized from his brain, this Java man must
+have had increased powers of reasoning. He must have been capable of
+making better adjustments to life than the gorilla or any of the great
+manlike apes. He possessed the ability to build up a greater sphere of
+experience and make some approach to human personality. His tendency
+to right-handedness was a distinctly human character, around which are
+built many of man’s most productive specializations. In all of his
+qualities the Java man was much below his later human successors. It is
+difficult to estimate how much skill he had acquired with his hands,
+but it seems almost certain that he added one supreme advantage to the
+motor equipment of animal life. HE HAD LEARNED TO SPEAK--to communicate
+in verbal language. The animal machine had acquired a new means of
+expressing itself. It was capable of developing a new output in the
+production of which it became highly prolific.
+
+Several theories have been advanced to explain the development of human
+speech. One of these attributes the origin of language to gestures,
+especially those made with the hands. Gestures indicating direction,
+location, distance, size, shape, motion, number, and many other
+specifications became associated with vocal expressions. These symbols
+were the basis of language, which required special speech centres in
+the brain for its control.
+
+This means of communication laid the foundation of all human knowledge.
+Doubtless the linguistic ability of the Javan ape man was extremely
+crude, but he had taken a decisive step in a direction necessary to the
+further development of mankind.
+
+
+_More Effective Use of the Senses_
+
+In the department of his body and contact senses the ape man’s brain
+shows marked advances over the apes. The expansions here must be
+regarded as particularly connected with the free use of the hands and
+arms and the assumption of the erect posture. A much richer supply
+of raw materials in the way of sense impressions from the legs and
+arms, and from the body, generally speaking, made possible a more
+effective turnover and output of nervous energy. During this time man
+was learning many new uses for his hands in devising original means for
+maintaining and advancing his footholds in life.
+
+The departments of sight and hearing situated respectively in the
+occipital and temporal lobes of the brain show that degree of expansion
+which supplied greater human powers. Man could see, and understand
+better what he saw. He could hear, and understand more fully what
+he heard. He was capable of more effective appreciation of his
+surroundings. If he obtained a better idea of the world through his
+sense of sight, he put these more ample impressions to better use in
+the visual direction of his actions and more especially in guiding the
+work of his hands by his eyes.
+
+If his sense of hearing likewise gave him better understanding of the
+audible world about him, it was most important in that it contributed
+to the upbuilding of his vocal speech. Sounds which he heard began to
+have new meanings to him. From this it was but a step to translate such
+sounds into spoken words with fixed meanings of their own.
+
+In all of these particulars the brain of the ape man had made definite
+advances. It was superior to all of its forerunners in the animal
+kingdom. The fact that it had thus advanced brings to mind many
+perplexing questions. Why had this great change taken place? What
+causes had produced the marked extensions in the frontal lobes and in
+all other lobes, sufficient at last to lift man up to a human level?
+Attempts to answer such questions venture into the field of conjecture.
+Many factors yet unknown may have been the real causes in producing
+this remarkable change.
+
+
+_The Human Hand and Foot_
+
+One great difference between man and the manlike apes seems to be based
+upon the character of the feet. Man had at length acquired two feet
+upon which to stand upright and make his way. His erect posture had
+caused many changes in his body, including the position of the head,
+the relation of the eyes, and the length of his limbs. None of these
+changes had more telling effect upon human destiny than the final
+freeing of the hands for occupations other than locomotion. In this way
+man acquired his most useful advantage--the hand. It became his chief
+reliance, the basis of his constructive abilities, and the guide of
+his analytical powers. It has been the achievement of his hands that
+has carried man onward. Some authorities believe that brain development
+was the chief factor in human progress. Such no doubt is the case,
+but it was the hand that called upon the brain for its progressive
+development.
+
+Whatever other factors were at work, the hand was one of the most
+potent influences in the rise of man. With the brain to direct its
+action, to expand its usefulness, with the upright posture to give
+free range to its executions, with speech to make its accomplishments
+available to all, the hand became a master key, opening all the ways
+leading through the vast domain of human behaviour. If the influences
+which determined human emergence from the lower levels of animal life
+might be catalogued as a working theory, they would perhaps appear in
+the following order:
+
+1. The development of the human foot upon which to establish the erect
+posture.
+
+2. The freeing of the hand in consequence of the erect posture for the
+purposes of human success.
+
+3. The expansions of sight and hearing for the better appreciation of
+the world and the more effective guidance of action.
+
+4. The development of speech.
+
+5. The establishment of human personality and the development of higher
+mental faculties. For the successful administration of these special
+powers, a brain of at least human capacity was necessary.
+
+
+_Brain of Piltdown Man_
+
+When Mr. Dawson found the fossil remains of the Piltdown Dawn man he
+brought to light another view of the human prehistoric brain. There
+are many indications that the Piltdown men had made great strides in
+their brain power. This is especially apparent in the frontal lobe.
+The convolutions are prominent, especially that one upon the left side
+which plainly indicates the power of speech. These early inhabitants
+of England must have been more gifted than the humbler ape man. Such
+at least is the evidence of the frontal lobe in which the department
+of the highest mental faculties was much better developed. Similar
+advances appear in the parietal regions, suggesting that the hands of
+these Dawn men had acquired increased capacities as constructive agents
+and sensory organs. The large expansion in the department of body and
+contact senses plainly signifies great advantages gained in exploring
+the world. Piltdown man must have understood the consistency, the
+texture, and shape of the things he touched. The weight and mobility
+of objects gave him information concerning their use. The advantages
+of wood and stone for projectile and penetrating purposes, the utility
+of sharp edges, the flexibility and tensile strength of various
+tissues, like the bark of trees or climbing vines, all came to him
+as revelations evoked by his new powers for sensing his world. These
+revelations were of much service in other ways. The Dawn man could
+utilize these sense impressions in directing new actions which helped
+him to overcome obstacles or to gain greater security. He could now
+combine stick and stone in a manner advantageous for his daily contacts
+with life. There may be some question whether the earlier ape man of
+Java had learned the secret of making implements for himself. With the
+Dawn man of Piltdown the case is different. It seems most likely that
+he had already established the industry of instrument making. Some
+students of this question still hesitate to believe that the dawn flint
+implements (eoliths) found in association with the Piltdown remains
+were really the product of human hands. It is probable that the Dawn
+man already possessed the great advantage of being right-handed. The
+chipping of stone implements would make it necessary for him to hold
+the flint in one hand and flake it skillfully with the other. The
+departments of hearing and sight both show an expansion similar to that
+in the other parts of the brain.
+
+The Piltdown brain is superior to that of the Java ape man in all
+particulars. It indicates the power of speech, the development of
+right-handedness, and the establishment of higher mental faculties.
+It also attests that the Dawn man had come a long distance from that
+parting of the ways at which the human race separated from the great
+apes.
+
+
+_The Neanderthal Brain_
+
+The time assigned to the Dawn man’s day on earth varies considerably
+according to different estimates. The latest calculations place this
+time at a little over a million years ago. By comparison, Piltdown
+men were certainly more ancient than another race which dominated
+Europe for long ages. This was the famous Neanderthal race. These early
+and long extinct people migrated into Europe from the East. Their
+scattered fossil remains found in many different parts tell the same
+story of an unusually powerful race. In stature they were relatively
+short, probably not averaging much more than five feet three inches
+in height. Their arms were long and powerful, their necks thick and
+extremely muscular. Their legs were heavy and slightly bent at the
+knees. As a race they were distinguished by the shape of their heads
+and the size of their brains. The Neanderthal had a low, retreating
+forehead and a head that was peculiarly flat near the top. It seems
+as if the head were especially constructed as part of an effective
+fighting machine. Heavy ridges of bone surmounted the eyes much as is
+the case in the gorilla. The head was set down well upon the shoulders.
+The jaws were heavy, indicating that the teeth as well as other parts
+of the body might be employed in combat. The nose was broad and flat
+and the chin lacked prominence. All of these features must have given
+the Neanderthal man a brutish appearance. The low beetling brow, the
+flattened vault of the skull, the heavy jaw with receding chin, the
+broad flat nose, all gave him a countenance not unlike that of the
+great apes. Visualized from his fossil remains, the Neanderthal was a
+savage-looking creature. He would have been a dangerous wayfarer for
+the unwary to meet. He was probably so hideous in his appearance that
+his presence gave offense to men of more refined sensibility. This
+seems like a harsh judgment upon the Neanderthal. It is a low estimate
+of him which his brain does not justify. As a matter of fact, the size
+of the Neanderthal brain is somewhat greater than that of any modern
+races. If size alone were the standard, such a brain would not indicate
+a low degree of mental organization. But size alone is not a reliable
+indicator of brain capacity. Unusually large brains are often inferior
+in their brain power. It is said that the largest brain, both by weight
+and measure, was that of a feeble-minded gardener at one time employed
+in a large public garden in London. The volume of the Neanderthal
+brain is not a convincing argument as to its efficiency. From other
+indications, however, it is certain that this race had made definite
+advances in human progress. They were skilled artisans and flint
+workers. They had command of fire, which was employed in the upbuilding
+of distinct industries. Far from being lowly, ape-like creatures, they
+had many of the higher attributes of man.
+
+The earliest discovery of these ancient people occurred in 1848 when
+Lieutenant Flint found the first Neanderthal skull in an old quarry at
+Gibraltar. The real meaning of this find, however, was not appreciated
+until more than sixty years later.
+
+One of the most important Neanderthal discoveries was made in the
+valley of the Dordogne in southwestern France. In a cavern near the
+little village of La Chapelle-aux-Saints, the abbés Bouyssonie and
+Bardon (autumn, 1908) found the skeleton of a primitive man. The
+body rested upon its back, with its head toward the west, its legs,
+thighs, and forearms folded together. The head had been protected by
+flat stones, and many skillfully worked flints of the Mousterian period
+surrounded the body. There was every evidence of interment and burial
+ceremony about the discovery which, it was finally decided, was the
+skeleton of a middle-aged man belonging to the Neanderthal race. By
+measurement it was found that the skeleton must have contained a brain
+of large size, considerably larger than the average modern brain.
+The brain cast of this prehistoric man gives us some clear idea of
+Neanderthal brain power. In shape the brain is distinctly flat. The
+arching in the region of the forehead, so prominent in modern races, is
+absent. This part of the brain seems to sink inward as if the frontal
+lobe had gone somewhat into eclipse, or had not yet made that decisive
+expansion characteristic of later races of man. This condition,
+however, corresponds exactly with the low retreating forehead of the
+Neanderthal. When compared with the ape man of Java, or with the Dawn
+man of Piltdown, the Neanderthal brain does, however, show expansion
+in all of its major departments. The parietal, occipital, and temporal
+lobes have all increased in size. This is true also of the frontal
+lobe, but the ratio of expansion appears to be less here than in other
+areas. It is in this department that the real flatness of the brain
+is most pronounced. The convolutions in the frontal lobe fail to give
+the superbrain those dominant characters which produce a high, wide
+forehead in modern man. This apparent failure of the frontal lobe to
+attain greater proportions must have had far-reaching influences upon
+the life and destiny of these primitive Europeans.
+
+All of the major departments of the brain show considerable expansion.
+The entire brain of the Neanderthal gives evidence of progressive
+development at the same time that it manifests many signs of deficiency
+and incomplete realization along the higher lines of progress.
+
+
+_Brain of Rhodesian Man_
+
+Asia and Europe have produced evidence of prehistoric man. Until quite
+recently Africa has been peculiarly silent in this regard. At length
+even the Dark Continent has revealed signs showing that man of a
+primitive type has gone a long way toward the south in his wanderings
+over the earth. This important discovery was made in Rhodesia and first
+publicly reported in 1921 by Mr. William L. Harris. The conditions of
+this discovery were peculiar and significant. Actual remains of two
+human skeletons were found at Broken Hill mine in northern Rhodesia.
+Connected with this mine there was originally a natural cave about 120
+feet long. This is known as the bone cave. It contained a vast number
+of animal bones all impregnated with the salts of zinc and lead. At the
+bottom of this cave the human remains were found. Like all of the other
+bones, the human skeletons were incrusted by zinc and lead. The cave
+itself seems to have been the ancient feasting place for hyenas, which
+dragged thither their prey. There is some suspicion that these human
+remains may have come to their last resting place in the cave of bones
+in a similar manner. The cleft of the roof of the cave here is far in,
+which suggests the possibility that the men or women whose bones were
+found may have fallen into the cavern. Certain features of the skull,
+however, have convinced eminent authorities that these individuals
+belong to a very ancient prehistoric race. The face is far more brutal
+than that of any other known human being, living or extinct. The
+enormous eyebrow ridges resemble those of the gorilla, the nose is flat
+and has that snout-like appearance suggesting a peculiarly significant
+mark of the beast, known only in one other extinct member of the human
+family, the Neanderthal man. Another remarkable feature of the head is
+the great size of the palate and teeth. The brain case and the features
+of the brain lend support to the view that this Rhodesian man was even
+older and more primitive than Neanderthal man.
+
+By all the signs of his frontal lobe the Rhodesian must have been a
+humble sort of human. Nothing in this department of his brain suggests
+any near approach to the attainments of modern man. The frontal lobe
+bears many marks of ape-like characters. It indicates at the same
+time a brain power which surpassed the limits of the great apes. It
+was a brain fast carrying man upward to the broader plains of human
+experience. The lot of the Rhodesian must have been precarious. He
+was pitted against formidable animals of the African wilds. But,
+judged by his frontal lobe, his brain had not left him destitute for
+the exigencies of such competition. He doubtless possessed the power
+of speech and the capacity for making human combinations. Compared
+with lower mammals he had a more facile association of ideas and could
+profit more effectively from experience. The evidence of his parietal,
+temporal, and occipital lobes indicates definite progress in all
+departments of sense perception. His brain was human though still in
+the rough. Whatever position is finally assigned to this far-distant
+cousin in our human family, he seems from his brain to have been a very
+simple sort of human being, older perhaps and even more primitive than
+any of the Neanderthal race.
+
+
+_Changes in Human Race Extremely Slow_
+
+It is impossible to give the exact dates for the appearance of the
+different races of prehistoric men. At best, our ideas concerning their
+antiquity must be approximate. Yet these fossils do not leave us in
+doubt in one respect at least. We know and we may prove our knowledge
+in many different ways that man has inhabited the globe through long
+ages, whether we rate these ages as hundreds of thousands or millions
+of years. Throughout these ages man has varied considerably. At first
+he bore many close resemblances to lower forms of life. Slowly he
+improved and manifested a progressive advance toward higher humanity.
+We may be inclined to question this progressive change from one stage
+to another largely because our own experience of life is limited to
+such a short span of time. Within the memory of any man the changes in
+his fellows seem inconsiderable. Mankind appears to have a dominating
+fixity in appearance. It is only a little more than sixty generations
+since the birth of Christ, and during this time the racial characters
+of men have changed but little. The white man, the red man, the black
+man, and the yellow man, are all much the same in the form of body, the
+shape of head, the appearance of face, as they were sixty generations
+ago. There is more than a striking figure of speech in the scriptural
+definition that a thousand years are but as a day in the endless
+expanse of time. Measured by such days as these, man has changed slowly
+but surely. When we contemplate long days of this kind, each of a
+thousand years, their accumulation in the existence of our race takes
+on a new meaning. Estimate, for example, how far back ten days of this
+time would take us. We should find ourselves in the life of the world
+as it was ten thousand years ago, in that critical period when a vast
+social and racial change was altering the colour and complexion of
+human existence in Europe. The senile but still wonderful Cromagnon
+race was then limping along to the last stage of its declining old
+age and was about to disappear. The hardy and practical man of the
+New Stone Age had already arrived and was fast becoming master of the
+situation. The Cromagnon artist-hunter was passing the sceptre of human
+control in Europe over to the hard-headed Neolithic business man.
+Another fifty days (each of a thousand years) still further back and
+we find again a momentous crisis. At that time the Neanderthal man was
+passing. In spite of all his rugged vigour, his day on earth was done.
+He had carried on existence successfully for seven or eight hundred
+thousand years, but now the time of his extinction was at hand. These
+seven or eight hundred thousand years would merely be seven or eight
+hundred days, according to the new kind of timepiece by which we are
+endeavouring to measure the duration of human progress.
+
+
+_Cromagnons Replace the Neanderthals_
+
+We may pause to seek some reason for the momentous change when the
+Neanderthal appears to have bowed before the Cromagnon. The real secret
+in the failure of the old race and the success of the new may be found
+in the brain. It was the increased brain power of the Cromagnon which
+produced the supremacy of this great race. It was this power which gave
+Europe its first pioneers in art and, for all mankind, opened the doors
+of creative imagination and appreciation of beauty in the world.
+
+It would be particularly illuminating if a brain of the Cromagnon race
+were available for study. These first artists occupied an exalted
+position. They began their life in Europe about fifty thousand
+years ago and carried on their industries for a period twenty times
+longer than the duration of the Christian Era. At present there is
+no Cromagnon brain cast available. We may, however, draw analogies
+from certain of their human contemporaries, who lived in the middle
+part of Europe during the Solutrean period. These were days when
+Cromagnon art and industry were at their zenith, when the Old Stone
+Age had attained its culminating stage and flourished in its fullest
+development. The Solutrean contemporaries of the Cromagnons were
+themselves a remarkable people. They are known as the “great mammoth
+hunters of Prêdmost.” Their fossil remains have been found in Moravia.
+Associated with them were the fossilized bones of nearly nine hundred
+specimens of mammoths. In addition to these fossils of men and beasts
+there were found many highly worked flints, including spear heads and
+other stone implements, all having a pattern which belonged to the
+Solutrean period. At Prêdmost, where this discovery was made, there
+was a collective burial of fourteen human beings, with the remains of
+six others. These great mammoth hunters must have been a large and
+powerful race. Their prowess as trackers of great game was exceptional.
+The character of their brain as revealed by the casts made from their
+skulls places them at once on a plane higher than any of the earlier
+races of man. In fact, it admits them to membership in the same race
+to which we ourselves belong--that is, _Homo sapiens_. These intrepid
+hunters, according to their fossil remains, closely resembled their
+splendid contemporaries of western Europe, the Cromagnons. Of these
+latter there is an ample record in consequence of which they will
+always rank among the best representatives of the human species.
+Their remarkable artistic contributions denote far more than the
+executive mastery of art. They signalize that new spirit which had
+been breathed into mankind, that devotion to the beautiful in life
+which created an abiding enthusiasm in all of our race for its highest
+ideals and loftiest purposes. From the first days of Cromagnon life
+these tendencies were dominant. They were a people who delighted in the
+lavish use of personal adornment. Coiffure was of particular interest
+with the women and a highly developed personal achievement. Both the
+men and the women seem to have been fond of using red and yellow ochre,
+much as in modern times, to beautify the body. If certain Egyptian
+ladies are credited with the invention of the lipstick and of rouge, it
+is probable that they found their examples for such artistic practices
+in these Cromagnon prototypes. Drawing, painting, and sculpture were
+not the only creations of the Cromagnons in the realm of art. It seems
+probable that they had invented some form of music. Their sketches of
+dances and masks make it seem likely that to vocal expression they had
+added certain artificial accessories in the shape of crude musical
+instruments. One character in the artistic discrimination of these
+artists and sculptors of the Old Stone Age is of unusual interest. It
+shows a distinct partiality for portraying women of extreme corpulence.
+Many of their statuettes have been discovered which, in spite of their
+somewhat unsightly _embonpoint_, are called Venuses. The most famous
+of these is the Venus of Willendorf. It was, however, in the carving
+of animal forms that Cromagnon art attained its real heights. Many
+living and extinct species of birds, mammals, and fish have thus been
+immortalized. Back of all this varied artistic creation there must
+have been a social organization of high order, for only a rich human
+experience could provide the soil for such vivid and real beauty in art.
+
+
+_The Mammoth Hunters of Prêdmost_
+
+The brain of the great mammoth hunters of Prêdmost had a volume close
+to the standards of modern men. It had lost those marks of inferiority
+which stamp the brains of lower races. It had gained that refinement
+of structure in the superbrain which proclaims the ascendant qualities
+of humanity. The groove of Sylvius and the central groove show the
+boundaries and the size of the several lobes of the brain, which
+correspond closely to those of modern man. It is in the frontal lobe
+that the most remarkable gains are apparent. The convolutions in this
+region are prominent and well defined. That flatness so typical of
+the Neanderthal brain has disappeared. These Prêdmost and Cromagnon
+people were not a race of flatheads, such as were the Neanderthals.
+The human forehead had become high and broad. It was no longer
+ape-like and receding, but clearly indicated that the human brain had
+developed sufficiently in its latest acquired and most highly organized
+department to demonstrate that man at length was capable of real
+humanity.
+
+From the Java ape-man up to _Homo sapiens_ of modern times there has
+been a slow but gradual increase in all of the important measurements
+of the brain. There has been a gain in length, in breadth, and in
+height. Much of this gain has taken place in the region of the frontal
+lobe, and thus has expressed itself in expansion in the highest
+department for developing brain power. The meaning of this pronounced
+frontal expansion is evident in the progressive extensions of human
+intelligence.
+
+
+_Progress of the Human Family_
+
+Judged by its brain power, the human family has clearly been
+progressive. In this respect it differs from all other families in
+the animal kingdom. In various parts of the world mankind has lagged
+behind. Such is the case in the tropics, where the races of men are
+still in a primitive stage. This is true also of many islands of the
+sea, in the arctic regions, and in other remote and inaccessible places
+of the earth. But given its full opportunity the human family has not
+failed to go forward. The line of its progress may not be deemed wholly
+satisfactory by the higher standards of enlightened criticism. Yet in
+bending the forces of nature more and more to his will as well as to
+his convenience, man has surely progressed. Where he has stood still,
+where perhaps he has even fallen behind, is in the manifest lack of
+control over his own nature. His curiosity has led him to inquire into
+every phase and aspect of life upon the globe. But in all of these
+inquiries he has given far too little thought to himself. Only within
+recent years has he become deeply interested in the mechanisms of his
+own behaviour. Least of all has he devoted time and thought to the
+organ of his chief reliance, to the creator of his successes, to the
+dictator of his future.
+
+Since his earliest beginnings man has grown in humanity as his brain
+expanded. Such a conclusion seems irresistible. If we place side by
+side the brain casts of the ape man of Java, the Dawn man of Piltdown,
+the Rhodesian, the Neanderthal, the Prêdmost, and the modern, we have
+before us a demonstration of this progress more effective than words.
+
+The regions in which the greatest development has occurred are
+easily discerned. Marked additions have been made to the department
+of sight in the occipital lobe, of hearing in the temporal lobe,
+of body and contact sense in the parietal lobe. The mechanisms for
+the amplification of sense perception and sense combination have
+been manifoldly increased. But it is in the department of the chief
+executive of life and experience that the most decisive advance has
+occurred. This area of the frontal lobe, so poorly represented in man’s
+nearest kin, the great manlike apes, shows exuberant growth, even in
+the ape man of Java. Here its features correspond to those of modern
+man in nearly every detail. Its only essential inferiority is its
+relative smallness. Its special development of convolutions denotes the
+acquisition of human speech and human reason.
+
+
+_Progressive Development of the Human Brain_
+
+Were we to select any single area in the superbrain as the department
+supreme in mental organization, we should not neglect the claims of
+the department for vision, for hearing, for body and contact sense.
+Although each of these has progressively expanded, we would be much
+more strongly inclined to favour that part of the superbrain which
+has been active as the superlative sense combiner, which has served
+to develop the fullest impressions of human existence, to accumulate
+the widest ranges of experience, to direct most broadly the actions
+of our behaviour. Traced through all of their intermediate stages
+upward, it is these frontal regions which manifest the most conspicuous
+development. The process of this long, progressive expansion in the
+frontal lobe reaches back to the earliest periods of man’s existence.
+It conveys an accurate impression of the manner in which the brain
+has responded to the demands made upon it. The human brain may still
+be considered to be in its early youth, in spite of the fact that
+more than a million years of human striving lie behind it. This
+great antiquity, this remarkable flexibility, have been largely
+overlooked. By most of us the human brain is regarded as a finished
+product. Its long, prehistoric record as we know it to-day does not
+support this point of view. On the contrary, it makes it appear far
+more probable that the brain of modern man is only some intermediate
+stage in the ultimate development of the master organ of life. The
+greatest possibilities for future progress lie in further expansion
+of the frontal lobe. For this reason the brain of prehistoric man is
+not merely an antiquarian relic, it is a sign from the long ages of
+the past showing the road man has followed in his upward course. It
+likewise conveys some suggestions concerning the future. For, if the
+human brain began as a simple organ and gradually developed through
+successive stages, there is reason to believe, if not to predict, that
+it may develop still further.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+IMPLEMENTS OF HUMAN SUCCESS
+
+HOW THE HAND, FOOT, AND BRAIN LED THE WAY TO HUMANITY
+
+
+It is not sufficient to know that the brain began as a simple organ
+and gradually became more complex. Sooner or later we must learn the
+reasons why it made this progress. At present we are able to identify
+some of the essential principles underlying brain development, yet with
+few exceptions the exact causes are still obscure. We may feel certain,
+however, that the progressive advances were due to the accumulation
+of slight changes which, modifying brain structure ever so little,
+ultimately made it more highly effective. Such changes in the different
+parts of the body are the result of a complex interplay of influences
+acting upon the animal as a whole. The brain has been particularly
+responsive to this interplay. It has at the same time been thoroughly
+conservative. Throughout all its wide range of variation it has
+maintained its basic designs. If readjustment of the body to certain
+conditions has resulted in the depreciation of a special part, such as
+the eye, the structure of the brain shows corresponding depreciations.
+The principle of compensation has also been at work. The power which
+may be depreciated or lost in one department is, to some degree at
+least, compensated for by others. An illustration of this compensatory
+power is afforded by the mole. This animal lives a burrowing life
+beneath the ground. Light rays do not reach it, and it therefore has no
+need for vision. In consequence, its eyes do not develop the function
+of sight. Its senses of touch and hearing, however, are greatly
+amplified, and the structure of its brain gives evidence of this
+compensatory readjustment.
+
+Signs of the close relation between the brain and the parts which it
+controls may be found in many organs of the body. In some instances
+these signs are outspoken; in others they are less clear. It is much
+easier to find evidence of this correlation in those parts which play
+a conspicuous rôle in life. The arms and legs, the eyes and ears, are
+particularly good examples. Modifications which have affected these
+parts are distinctly reflected in the brain. If more brain power is
+required for their better operation, more ample provision is made for
+them in brain structure.
+
+
+_Relation of One Part of Body to Another_
+
+It is a debated question whether the brain or the external part of the
+body takes the lead in progressive modifications. Some authorities
+believe that all advances of this kind are dictated by development in
+the brain. Others ascribe the determining influence to the external
+part. For the present it seems wiser to consider these modifications as
+simultaneous, as affecting the external part and the brain together.
+Certain dangers arise from regarding the body as divided too strictly
+into definite parts. Such a division has advantages for purposes
+of description, but it may tend to obscure the important fact that
+life is carried on by the body acting as a whole. In this light the
+division between external part and the portion of the brain controlling
+it establishes an artificial distinction. Viewed in the light of
+purposeful life, one is of little use without the other. Both external
+part and the portion of the brain controlling it establish a special
+unit which, coöperating with all other special units, carry on the
+process of living.
+
+This view is known as the organismal conception of life. It estimates
+the entire animal not as a collection of different parts but as a
+combination which makes life possible. According to this conception the
+external structure (arm, leg, eye, ear, etc.) and the portion of the
+brain controlling it form an operating part of the whole. Modifications
+in the one are reflected in the other. They cause mutual reactions.
+When eyes are developed for different kinds of vision, corresponding
+provisions are made for them in the brain. When legs are specialized
+for various kinds of locomotion, brain structure adapts itself
+accordingly.
+
+It is important to realize what the eyes and the ears and the organ of
+smell have contributed to the progressive advance of the brain. In all
+of these organs there is a marked constancy and sameness among animals
+possessing them. Structures presenting a greater variety of form might
+have even greater pertinence. It therefore is a more leading question
+to ask what relation the brain bears to the extremities, to the fore
+and hind legs, to the hands and feet.
+
+
+_History of the Hand and Foot_
+
+There is a long history of progressive change back of the hand and
+foot. In their development they emerged from more simple structures
+connected with the ends of the limbs in certain four-legged animals.
+Because they are attached to the limbs in this way, they have played
+an important rôle in one of the chief activities of life--locomotion.
+The fore and hind legs act as a series of levers. They are moved by
+muscles and in this way make transportation possible. Consequently the
+modifications in the ends of the limbs in response to special types of
+locomotion have a most important bearing upon the life of the animal
+and thus upon the brain.
+
+In animals living upon land such parts of the limbs as touch the
+ground are modified by many factors; thus the weight of the body, the
+speed of movement, and the kind of locomotion would all exert their
+modifying influence. Limbs of several different designs have thus been
+produced. Heavy animals, like horses and cattle, which require speed
+and endurance for long journeys, need hoofs. Still larger hoofs were
+developed by heavier animals, like the elephant and rhinoceros. The paw
+was the design utilized by animals like cats and dogs. Their bodies
+were not so heavy as those of horses and cattle. They were capable of
+great speed and needed sharp nails on their paws to hold the ground
+in running and springing. These talon-like nails they also used for
+defending themselves or in capturing their prey, as do the lion,
+tiger, leopard, and bear. The paw is a more flexible implement than
+the hoof. It provides a soft, elastic pad by means of which the animal
+touches the ground. In animals like the seal, walrus, and sea lion the
+flipper is the design utilized. Here the digits are connected by means
+of a web. The wing is the specialization in such animals as the bat
+whose transportation depends upon flight through the air.
+
+
+_Locomotor Devices_
+
+These various devices for moving the body about on the land, in the
+water, or through the air have been developed by mammals. By such
+contrivances they are enabled to subsist, each according to its own
+mode of living. Some of them have returned to a life in the water.
+The result of aquatic habits in mammals is extremely interesting. The
+flippers of seals, walruses, and sea lions equip these animals to
+swim with great ease and speed. They enable them to clamber about on
+the rocky coast by the edge of the sea, or upon the ice fields of the
+arctic regions. Because of its apparent limitations, such a life held
+little prospect for developing the powers of higher intelligence. A
+flipper is in no sense an efficient implement by means of which to
+acquire a superior position in the world. The seals and all of their
+kind, therefore, offer little promise of progress. They are capable
+of astonishing proficiency in the control of their neck muscles and
+movements of their heads, but this at best is a meagre advantage. They
+are somewhat better off than another group of mammals which took to
+the water, namely; porpoises and whales. Nothing in the equipment of
+these animals could serve as efficient instruments by which to gain a
+preëminent place in nature.
+
+By developing wings in connection with their limbs the bats were also
+excluded from the lines of higher progress. However effective they are
+in flight, their wings could not be made to serve constructive purposes.
+
+Animals with hoofs, such as horses and cattle, elephants and
+rhinoceroses, acquired solid and reliable feet for withstanding the
+heavy strain which their speed and weight imposed upon them. Hoofs,
+however, are far from ideal as universal instruments. Although
+sufficient for the work they have to do, they cannot be utilized for
+purposes other than those of transportation except, in a certain minor
+way, for offensive and defensive tactics. In these animals all of the
+digits are either bound together in one large supporting pad, as in the
+elephant, or are encased by a horny covering, as in cattle and deer.
+In the modern horse but one digit persists, and this is surrounded
+by a heavy, horny hoof. Such an implement would not require a highly
+specialized endowment of brain power for its control.
+
+The daily programme of these animals, limited largely to
+transportation, calls for no constructive ability and no intentionally
+destructive one. The hoofed animals possess no means for accumulating
+or storing food in preparation against a day of need. They are forced
+to move from place to place in order to find their browsing and
+grazing lands. They cannot stand against great changes of climate or
+season. They must flee before the advance of winter as well as from
+their enemies. The hoof for this reason offered little promise for the
+development of a more efficient kind of instrument. Such hoofed animals
+as also possess a trunk developed an accessory organ of much value.
+It is doubtless an important factor in the high specialization of the
+elephant’s brain. Even this flexible instrument, however, has its
+decided limitations.
+
+All of these mammals, whether hoofed, flippered, or winged, have
+failed to develop a brain of superior qualities. In no instance is it
+an organ capable of a high degree of learning or intricate control of
+life. The hoof of the horse, cattle, deer, elephant, rhinoceros, and
+the like set the stamp of the wild upon these animals. This is the
+keynote of their behaviour. Flipper and wing are equally indicative of
+inferior qualifications in so far as efficiency and brain power are
+concerned. There may be sufficient reasons for placing these mammals in
+the same bracket with man in the great classes of the animal kingdom.
+Their inferiorities are apparent, however, when their intelligence is
+estimated by human standards. It is then clear how far below the human
+level of brain power they are.
+
+
+_The Paw in Relation to Hand and Foot_
+
+In our search for animals capable of a greater range of adjustments
+we will find another group with a much more promising locomotor
+equipment. This group comprises those mammals possessing paws, such
+as dogs, cats, bears, rats, squirrels, and the like. In itself the
+paw is a most flexible implement susceptible to many modifications.
+It possesses five distinct finger-like processes or digits, each of
+which is capable of some degree of individual movement. The digits may
+be spread out or drawn together; they may be folded or extended. In
+every typical paw there are eighteen movable joints, each of which is
+capable of some independent motion. Twenty-five muscles make more than
+seventy separate movements possible. These figures afford some idea of
+what a complex structure the paw is. Attached to the extremity of each
+digit is a sharp claw-like nail, beneath which an enlargement in the
+skin forms a prominent “tip pad.” Over each of these pads the skin is
+arranged in ridges. The ridges roughen the surface and produce what is
+called “friction skin.” The roughened skin and the claws at the end of
+the digits give the animal better ground-gripping powers. In addition
+to the tip pad, each typical paw has four enlargements where the
+digits come together. These are the “palm” and “sole” pads. They are
+likewise covered with ridged friction skin. The paw terminates in the
+wrist or ankle, and at this junction there are two enlargements called
+respectively the “wrist” and “ankle” pads. They are also covered with
+friction skin.
+
+This design of paw with its separate digits, its claw-like nails, and
+its eleven pads affords an especially adaptable structure from which
+to create many different kinds of useful implements. In the gnawing
+animals, like the rats and squirrels, the paw is developed particularly
+for running and climbing. The long sharp claws serve the purpose of
+spurs which, as in the case of the squirrel, may be driven into the
+bark of trees. All of the pads in the paw come in contact with the
+surface over which the animal is moving, thus giving information
+concerning its support and aiding its transportation.
+
+In moles and burrowing animals the hind paw retains its usual features,
+while the fore paw is converted into something resembling a shovel.
+The paw becomes broad and flat, particularly in the moles, and there
+is no suggestion of any of its pads. Since this specialization is
+adapted principally for digging underground, little could be expected
+in the way of high attainment for animals of this kind. Their burrowing
+capacity is excellent, but this is the extent of their ability.
+
+
+_Special Uses of the Paw_
+
+In the meat-eating animals, like the dog and the cat, the individual
+digits and the claws are somewhat shorter, but their most important
+modification is the fusion of the paw pads and the reduction in the
+first digit. This change is a specialization for their more springy
+type of locomotion. Such animals run on the tips of the digits, using
+especially the second, third, and fourth digits. The paw pads usually
+fuse to form one or two which serve to increase the spring of the
+animal. The fore limb of the rat may be accepted as the working model,
+because it has all of the general features that make up a typical
+paw. It provides for running, climbing, clinging, and clawing. When
+compared with the paw of a mole, the modifications necessary for a good
+digging implement are clearly seen. The pads are no longer needed and
+might, as a matter of fact, be in the way. The digits are shorter and
+the whole hand is broader and more scoop-like. The paw of the mole is
+modified for the work it has to do and has lost many of the structures
+necessary for ordinary locomotion over the ground. Long claws are no
+longer essential for climbing or clinging, and the nails have been
+converted into burrowing ground-breakers. The rabbit and the guinea
+pig show changes in the fore paw necessary for rapid transportation
+in a kind of jumping locomotion. They have lost the specializations
+in the paw necessary for climbing. The nails and the digits are less
+long and somewhat heavier. The squirrel, on the other hand, has a fore
+paw specialized for climbing trees. This modification has emphasized
+the length of the individual digit and particularly the length and
+sharpness of the claws. Often the squirrel may be seen sitting upon its
+haunches holding between its fore paws a nut, the shell of which it is
+attempting to crack with its teeth. Such grasping power is not found
+in the paws of animals specialized for running and jumping solely. The
+squirrel’s modification of the front paw is extremely important. It
+reveals how the animal’s life in the tree has lengthened the digits as
+well as the nails. Some degree of power for grasping small objects has
+come through this lengthening. The fore paw of a cat compared with
+that of a dog illustrates other important specializations. Both of
+these animals are strong runners. In running they travel along on the
+tips of the digits. For this reason the tip pads and the friction skin
+over them have become highly developed for ground-gripping purposes.
+The paw pads and the wrist pads have tended to fuse in order to give an
+elastic surface necessary for that springy gait determined by running
+on the tips of the digits. The individual digits are somewhat longer in
+the cat than in the dog. The claw-like nail of all the cat family is
+one of their distinguishing features. By means of these claws they are
+able to climb trees, which is a provision of great service in procuring
+food. Dogs, on the other hand, have short digits, with thick, heavy
+nails suited more as spikes in running but not adapted to climbing.
+In many of the great cats, like the leopard, climbing trees is an
+essential part of their hunting strategy. For this reason they require
+long, sharp claws, which may also be used as weapons in attacking their
+prey. The long claws of the bear likewise indicate a modification of
+the fore paw in adjustment to the animal’s climbing propensities. The
+great weight of the bear makes it necessary for it to have these long
+spur-like claws in order to get a proper grip on the bark of a tree
+when climbing.
+
+
+_Transformation from Paw to Hand_
+
+Illustrations of this kind might be multiplied to show that in all
+animals having paws these implements have been modified in one way
+or another to suit the kind of work they have to do. In the main,
+this work is transportation. But there are many special problems in
+the different kinds of transportation. There are also numerous other
+adjustments to life that are capable of producing profound modification
+in the paws. From such facts as these it must be clear that the paw has
+been serviceable as the basis for developing instruments suited to many
+special purposes. One prominent feature in the several modifications of
+the fore paw is the effect which climbing has had upon the length of
+the digits and upon the length of the claw-like nails. In the rat and
+particularly in the squirrel these effects of climbing are especially
+distinct. When climbing at length became a dominant factor in the life
+and livelihood of the animal, certain still more decisive modifications
+were produced in the paws. We may now endeavour to gain some idea
+of that important transformation which occurred when certain groups
+of animals took up more or less permanent life in the trees. These
+mammals were representative of the monkey kind. They did not resort
+to tree climbing as many others have done as an expedient in hunting
+or in escaping from their enemies. The trees became their abodes.
+Many changes were induced by this new adjustment to life, changes
+which affected the muscles and bones and even the skin. During the
+process of this adjustment certain ridges upon the skin in the palm of
+the hand and sole of the foot began to show marked changes, probably
+because they were in such immediate and constant contact with the
+branches of the trees. In their basic designs these ridges which form
+the friction skin may be traced back to the simplest of pawed animals.
+Their successive modifications offer one of the most certain guides in
+following the stages through which the hand emerged from the paw.
+
+Each ridge upon the skin of the paw (_chiridium_) is an elevation
+of the superficial layer which contains, at regular intervals, the
+mouths of minute canals coming from sweat glands. In its simplest form
+each sweat gland in regions of the skin not covered by hair (sole of
+the foot and palm of the hand) consists of a mound-like elevation in
+the centre of which is the mouth of a sweat duct. With the higher
+development of the skin, numbers of these little mounds ran together in
+rows thus forming the friction ridges. Depending upon the pressure and
+the kind of contact made with the ground or other surface, the ridges
+of the skin are arranged either in concentric circles, in ellipses, or
+in parallel lines. They serve two useful purposes: First, they roughen
+the surface so that it can grip the ground more effectively; second, by
+the continuous secretion of fluid from the sweat glands, they keep the
+skin soft, pliable, and sensitive. In this last particular, namely, the
+sensitiveness of the skin, the ridges also serve in another capacity.
+They provide proper locations for nerve endings, necessary to the sense
+of touch in all of its various modifications. Thus the paws in the
+more minute architecture of their skin pads and friction ridges afford
+highly pliable and sensitive instruments by means of which different
+kinds of mammals are able to adjust themselves in a great variety of
+ways.
+
+After many intermediate stages of transition the fore paw assumed
+the appearance of a hand. Simultaneous with this change the hind paw
+also began to manifest many hand-like characters. Potent factors were
+at work determining this important transformation. Their influences
+were decisive not alone because they changed the paw into a hand but
+because they instituted equally profound changes in the structure of
+the brain. Such modifications as these brought about many adjustments
+to life destined to be the special determinants of human behaviour. One
+of the first changes to occur in transforming a front paw into a hand
+was the direct result of arboreal life. This modification consisted
+of a decisive lengthening of the digits, particularly the second,
+third, fourth, and fifth digits. In this way the fingers were formed.
+The first digit which ultimately became the thumb did not lengthen to
+the same degree as the other four. The chief influence in producing
+this lengthening to form fingers arose from the need of a firm grasp
+upon the branches. Its effects appear in the simplest monkeys, such
+as tarsius. The small hand of this animal has four long fingers and
+a diminutive thumb, all of which are well adapted to encircling and
+grasping a cylindrical branch. Another important transitional feature
+is the flattening in the ball of each digit. In tarsius each finger tip
+has a disk-like appearance. This is an extreme development. It produces
+what in effect is a suction pad on the tip of the finger not unlike
+that observed in some of the frogs (_Hyladæ_). Such suction pads enable
+the animal to strengthen its grasp upon the bark. The flattening of the
+finger tips due to the pressure required in grasping the limb of a tree
+produced a third great change. It caused a corresponding flattening of
+the back of the finger tip and thus developed a broad, flat finger nail
+to replace the sharp, claw-like nail of the cat, rat, and other similar
+mammals.
+
+
+_The Hand of Tarsius and Lemur_
+
+The three changes observed in the most primitive of the monkey kind
+(_Tarsius_) comprise the pronounced lengthening of the fingers, the
+flattening of the finger tips, and the flattening of the finger
+nails. These transformations are easily understood in connection with
+the necessity of grasping cylindrical branches. In other words, a
+prehensile hand came into existence as a result of living in the trees,
+and a new kind of instrument made its appearance in relation with the
+upper extremity. The need of a firm grasp on the branches was the
+fundamental cause of this modification of the paw. It had far-reaching
+effects because it created the facility to grasp many other objects and
+thus struck the keynote of those further developments which ultimately
+gave rise to the grasping hand of man.
+
+All of the pads covered by friction skin which are characteristic
+of lower mammals like the rat and the squirrel may be identified in
+tarsius. The tip pads are somewhat changed to form the suction disks.
+The palm pads, four in number, occupy their usual position in the angle
+between the digits. The wrist pads, two in number, are well developed.
+By means of these elastic cushions the animal makes its contacts with
+the branches.
+
+Transition from paw to hand is still more pronounced in the lemurs.
+These animals in many ways stand lower in the scale than tarsius. In
+them the lengthening of the digits to form real fingers, the marked
+development of the thumb, the appearance of friction pads, and broad,
+flat finger nails are all prominent. The index finger shows certain
+variations in its development. In other respects these lowly members of
+the monkey kind manifest definite progress in the change from paw to
+hand.
+
+
+_The Interesting Case of the Marmoset_
+
+At this point it is interesting to consider the case of the marmosets.
+Here the progress which the paw had made toward a more effective
+structural instrument encountered a serious setback. The hand of
+these little animals, in a general way, has much that resembles a
+paw. Although it has long fingers and a prominent thumb, there is
+an evident slipping backward. The claw-like finger nails suggest an
+actual retrogression in the process of developing a hand. If the
+marmosets were actual backsliders, other monkeys of the New World were
+particularly progressive. They developed hands which are extremely
+human in appearance. Their long, tapering fingers have broad, flat
+nails. Their thumbs are fairly well formed. Their finger and palm
+pads have characteristic appearances. This interesting group of South
+American monkeys show in a most striking manner those changes which
+life in the trees has brought about in the fore paw. Such modifications
+are especially significant because of their influence upon the
+behaviour of those animals which have taken up a permanent arboreal
+life. They have also made a deep impression upon the structure of the
+brain. The transition from a running, ground-living animal to the
+simpler arboreal forms is foreshadowed in the lemur’s hand. In many
+respects this transition stands just upon the border line. Its apparent
+indecisiveness is recorded in the brain, for the lemur retains many of
+the ancient brain features created by older ground-living habits. At
+the same time, it indicates certain adventurous attempts to break away
+from the earth and ascend into the trees. The grooves of the brain show
+this new departure particularly well. They retain their strong family
+resemblances inherited through long ages of four-legged ancestors. But
+added to this they manifest a tendency to assume the characters which
+in due course would lift their successors farther from the ground and
+into a more erect posture.
+
+
+_Appearance of the Hand-like Foot_
+
+Up to this point attention has been centred upon the important changes
+which attended the transition from paw to hand. Equally momentous
+were the modifications in the hind paws which resulted in hand-like
+feet. This transformation slowly altered the digits, the claw-like
+nails, and the friction pads. It modified all of these parts in such
+a way as to produce better limb-gripping instruments. A great change
+in transportation had taken place. Running over the ground in easy,
+secure fashion now gave place to the more hazardous method of climbing
+among the branches of trees. A dependable grip was the prime need.
+This capacity required long toes with which to encircle the branches,
+a powerful sole, and a great toe with strong grasping power. The
+four-legged animals that travel over the ground on various kinds of
+paws support the weight of the body on two main arches of the foot. One
+arch consists of an elastic span between the tip and the sole pads. The
+other arch extends between the sole and ankle pads. Generally speaking,
+those animals living on the ground first strike the surface at each
+step on the tip pads of the four outer toes. As the full weight of
+the body is accepted by the hind paw, the sole pads touch the ground.
+Last and most lightly, the ankle pads in the region of the heels rest
+on the supporting surface. In many running animals of this kind the
+heel touches the ground infrequently. Their running and walking in
+consequence have a springy quality that prepares them for a quick
+bounding start at an instant’s notice.
+
+
+_Strong Grasping Powers_
+
+Animals like the rabbit and kangaroo possess hind legs that work
+together, while the fore limbs are put forward first one and then the
+other. The most effective type of transportation in animals possessing
+paws has developed a gait in which the action of the hind leg of one
+side follows the action of the fore leg of the opposite side. This
+is the manner in which the dog runs. It is also true of all members
+belonging to the great cat family. The hind paw is put down in the
+footprint of the opposite fore paw. Apparently there is no deliberate
+supervision of this action which seems to be wholly automatic in its
+nature. To a great extent, however, this automatic regularity in the
+hind legs ceased when the four-handed animals came into existence and
+began to live in the trees. The problem then was a totally different
+one. It was not necessary for these animals to be on their toes every
+moment. They did not require the powerful spring formed by the two
+arches in the sole of the foot. Their chief necessity was a foot that
+would have the grasping powers of a strong hand. In this way they could
+make sure of seizing the branches securely.
+
+The first digit of the foot, which in most pawed animals often fails
+to develop, became of greatest service to the monkeys. In most of them
+the great toe offers an added means for securing a firm grasp. It may
+be extended behind the branch while the other toes encircle it and all
+working together produce a firm grip not unlike a wrench on a pipe.
+The need of a long lever extending from the tip of the toes back to
+the heel, essential to the springy gait of the ordinary pawed animal,
+is not so strongly felt in arboreal life. In fact, a foot which is too
+long may be an actual disadvantage, while one facilitating the best
+kind of gripping power would necessarily require a shortening from toe
+to heel. This was the change which took place in the early beginning of
+tree life.
+
+
+_Under Direction of the Eye_
+
+It is difficult to appreciate all of the decisive modifications
+throughout the body which the development of such hand-like structures
+determined. Their influences operated in profound and subtle ways. They
+caused a great change in body posture. The animal was now able to reach
+for branches above its head. This was a long step in the direction of
+standing upright. It modified the relation of the head which in most
+four-legged animals is directed so that both the eyes and the nose
+are turned toward the ground. Reaching upward to grasp branches and
+drawing the body in this direction lifted the head. It has been shown
+that this action of pushing the head backward and stretching the neck
+causes the hind legs to straighten out automatically in exactly the
+position necessary for standing erect. Such a beginning of the upright
+posture also produced a change in the position of the internal organs
+of the body as well as in the position of the eyes. These modifications
+influenced the growth of the superbrain, which finally acquired that
+appearance seen only in animals possessing hands. Coincident with these
+modifying factors, still another important change was in process. In
+all four-legged animals the paws, and more especially the hind paws,
+operate out of sight of the eyes. The animal does not see their action.
+The eye does not watch and supervise the movements of the paws step
+by step, but allows them to shift more or less for themselves. With
+the appearance of hands connected both with the fore and hind limbs,
+this state of affairs ceased. Both the hand and the foot now came under
+the critical supervision of the eye. The eye was able to hold in plain
+view the performances of the hands and hand-like feet. It could see
+and direct their movements. It could single them out individually or
+watch them while they all worked together. It could even make critical
+discriminations in each hand and in each foot. It could select a thumb
+or a great toe, or each one of the other fingers and toes, and thus
+guide its movements. This selective discrimination in the hands and
+feet was an advantage never enjoyed by any of the pawed animals whose
+habit it is to use all of the digits together. In this manner both hand
+and foot profited by their new adjustments. As instruments they were
+capable of a far wider range of application, although it was not alone
+by this expansion in their utility that they became more effective.
+They were better agents for sensing the world and possessed a more
+ample sensory capacity which arose from their own multiplied movements.
+
+
+_Threshold of a Great Change_
+
+In the animal kingdom it would be difficult to find more provocative
+influences than those which determined the transformation of paws into
+four hands. Considered casually, the appearance of the quadrumanous
+monkeys in all their varieties seems little more than the addition
+of many interesting forms of life. This addition, however, had a far
+greater significance. The four-handed stage of animal existence led to
+the highest development of the brain. Without this stage the ultimate
+advances in life, the supreme achievements in progress, would have been
+impossible. Numerous factors contributed to the acquisition of hands
+and hand-like feet, but no one of them was more potent in the final
+outcome than the effects of tree-living. Almost every other combination
+of habitat and adjustment had exerted its influence upon the form of
+the mammalian body, yet in no other instance has there been achieved
+a success comparable to the development of hands. Most mammals are
+equipped with highly efficient eyes, keen ears, and a serviceable
+sense of smell. These endowments have had opportunity to contribute to
+the efficiency of life. But neither sight nor hearing nor smell was
+sufficient of itself to determine those advantages capable of giving
+the animal a supreme position. It was the hand which opened the door
+to give the senses those opportunities never enjoyed before. It called
+upon the brain for further expansions to direct new ranges of movement.
+It required additional brain extensions for a greatly amplified sense
+of touch in the fingers and palms, in the toes and soles of the feet.
+It was the hand, in a word, that afforded an entirely new grasp upon
+life and in the end created not only a new order of mammals but
+almost a new kingdom of life. The transition from paws to the hands
+of the quadrumana is the threshold of an epochal change. As the paw
+was the basic pattern for the hand, the hand was the indispensable
+stepping-stone to the development of man. This formula may perhaps seem
+altogether too simple and graphic. It would be such, in fact, if many
+of the important intermediate stages in the process of development were
+overlooked. These stages may now be considered.
+
+The consequences of the transition produced under the influence of
+tree-living appear conspicuously in the lengthening of the digits
+to form fingers, in the appearance of an opposable thumb, in the
+acquisition of a grasping hand. All of these are definitely adaptive
+changes. They are applied directly to meet the conditions of locomotion
+through the trees. But if these modifications conferred upon the
+animals many real advantages, they also introduced certain imposing
+hazards to further progress. They were adequate for the mastery of
+arboreal life, yet at the same time they permitted the forest to become
+master of these four-handed animals. This is true in exactly the same
+way that the sea imposes its laws upon aquatic mammals, the plains
+dictate to the ungulates, and the air exerts its control over the bats.
+
+
+_Possession of too Many Hands_
+
+So far as the monkeys are concerned, an obstacle lies squarely across
+the path of further progress. They are possessed of too many hands.
+Hand and hand-like foot both serve the purposes of locomotion. Neither
+the one nor the other is afforded those opportunities of exclusive use
+which are essential to the highest development. This is true even
+of most of the monkeys of the Old World, like the macaques. Their
+locomotion requires the use of all four extremities. They run along
+on the top of the branches, grasping firmly as they go. They leap
+from one branch to another, employing all four hands in this mode of
+transportation. As a result of these activities the hands are long
+and slender, the fingers long and tapering, and the thumb short but
+opposable. The foot has much the appearance of the hand.
+
+One group of the ape world offers a striking departure from this
+more general rule of development. This exception is particularly
+interesting. It appears in the baboon and more especially those members
+of their family which have taken up a life upon the ground. With the
+baboons the resumption of terrestrial life came long before any of
+the monkeys had made pronounced advances toward the erect posture. It
+is for this reason that when these animals adopted habits of ground
+life they readjusted themselves after the fashion of other four-legged
+animals. They travel about much like the dog or cat, with their muzzles
+directed to the earth. In fact, many of their features, both in head
+and body, take on a definite canine appearance. A feature of special
+significance is the manner in which their fore and hind limbs have
+reacted to the influences of ground-living. The great lengthening in
+the hands, fingers, feet, and toes, conspicuous in monkeys that live
+in the trees, has actually been reversed in the baboon. It is still
+proper to speak of hands and feet, but both hand and foot have shown
+striking tendency to revert to paws. This specialization illustrates
+a remarkable disgression in the development of the monkey kind. It
+means, if it means anything at all, that the adaptations necessary
+for carrying on life in the trees have withdrawn their influence
+and permitted the habits of adjustment to the ground to modify the
+character of the extremities. In four particulars the hand of the
+baboon shows distinct tendencies to revert to a paw:
+
+1. All of the fingers are shortened.
+
+2. The thumb has been reduced if not to the state of a vestigial
+tubercle as in the dog, at least until it has become extremely
+rudimentary.
+
+3. The nails have become much longer and more slender, as if they were
+tending to form claws.
+
+4. Both the tip pads and the palm pads have become more prominent, the
+latter actually fusing to form a single palmar cushion.
+
+In the foot similar tendencies toward a paw are present. The lesser
+toes and the great toe are much shortened, and there is a distinct
+fusion of the plantar pads. This reversion in the hands and feet of the
+baboon shows clearly how readjustment occurred when the influences of
+tree living were withdrawn. It also demonstrates the strong tendency
+for the chirideal structures to assume the ancient patterns of the
+paw in response to the habits of four-footed living upon the ground.
+The baboons, therefore, cannot be considered in the direct line of
+progress. They not only failed to advance the cause of developing
+the hand but they did nothing to further the erect posture or the
+progressive expansion of the brain. It was perhaps the large size of
+their body that made it necessary for them to desert the tree and
+seek more secure support upon the ground. This increase of body size,
+however, came at an early period, long before the primates had begun to
+feel those decisive influences which favoured standing erect.
+
+
+_Brachiation and the Erect Posture_
+
+Considerably later in geologic times another class of apes made its
+appearance, which felt the full power of this determining influence.
+These animals were the gibbons. They introduced a new type of
+transportation. Their locomotion no longer depended upon running along
+on the tops of the branches, or leaping from one support to the next.
+They introduced the novel method of swinging by the hands. Reaching
+for a branch over the head with the right hand, the gibbon swings
+its body forward to grasp the next branch in advance with the left
+hand. Swinging in this manner, step by step, first with the right
+hand, then with the left, these animals walk through the trees. The
+results of this arm-swinging locomotion (brachiation) are apparent
+in the development of the hand. The fingers, tip pads, the palm, and
+the palm pads are greatly elongated. Similar lengthening is also
+apparent in the forearm. The acrobatic manœuvring requisite to such
+locomotion has developed a high degree of skill in using the hands
+and arms. It also requires a close coöperation between the movements
+of the upper extremities, eyes, and head. The influence of these
+several modifications has impressed itself upon the brain. But the most
+decisive effect of the gibbon mode of locomotion is seen in the posture
+of the body. The swinging by the hands well above the head produces an
+almost constant erect posture. The muzzle no longer points, as in the
+great majority of monkeys, toward the ground. It, as well as the eyes,
+is now directed toward the horizon, and thus those factors which have
+contributed most to an upstanding, forward-looking primate were first
+introduced by the gibbon. The foot of these animals, while it retains
+many features and markings of a hand, affords a fairly satisfactory
+support for bipedal locomotion in the erect posture. Obviously the
+effects of tree life are responsible for these changes in the gibbon.
+All other monkeys up to this stage have been embarrassed by an
+over-endowment of hands. But the gibbon, by over-emphasizing the upper
+extremity, has to some degree nullified the importance of hand-like
+feet. It has begun the solution of that perplexing problem which was
+imposed upon the monkeys by their almost exclusive tree life and which
+must be solved in order to provide for the manlike specializations
+essential to bipedal locomotion.
+
+In this gibbon level of the ape world such specializations began to
+manifest themselves. From some gibbon-like progenitor, early in the
+Age of Mammals, there arose a common stock capable of producing all of
+the modern gibbons, the great anthropoid apes, and man himself. This
+gibbon stage of development contained the potential material from which
+to evolve the erect posture, bipedal locomotion, hands freed for the
+purposes of the greatest utility, and a brain adequate to the needs of
+the highest primates.
+
+
+_A New Grasp on Life_
+
+In the three great anthropoids, orang-outang, chimpanzee, and gorilla,
+the hand is approaching more closely to the human pattern. In all three
+the leading advance is due to the development of a more effective
+opposable thumb. The result of this change has caused the disappearance
+of the two wrist pads so characteristic of the mammalian paw and so
+prominent in the great majority of monkeys. Power to oppose the thumb
+against each one of the fingers separately has increased to a great
+extent. The opponens muscle of the thumb has become more prominent
+and caused the appearance of a conspicuous muscular swelling in the
+palm of the hand, the thenar eminence. The palm muscles developed
+in connection with the little finger have likewise occasioned the
+appearance of the hypothenar eminence and at the same time the
+disappearance of the second wrist pad. These developments, all clearly
+seen in the anthropoid apes, and most prominent in the gorilla, reach
+their greatest proportions in man. They are evidence not of the further
+adaptation of the hand to locomotion but of its liberation for other
+and more constructive purposes.
+
+The effects of this advance in the hand from one primarily intended
+to provide a firm grip upon the limbs of trees to one of almost
+universal application are revealed by alterations in the palmar lines.
+These lines are three in number, namely, the anterior, middle, and
+posterior groove. In the gibbon they extend across the palm almost
+parallel to each other. They are creases which represent the lines of
+palmar flexion resulting from grasping cylindrical branches. In the
+orang-outang these lines are still essentially parallel, indicating a
+hand designed to grasp a cylinder. In the chimpanzee and gorilla the
+palmar grooves begin to converge toward the space between the index
+finger and thumb. In man this convergence is complete, due to the
+development of the powerful hand muscle which permits the opposable
+thumb to reach the other fingers. This progressive convergence of the
+palmar lines indicates the development of a hand no longer intended
+for the simple purpose of grasping a cylinder, but not constructed
+to take firm hold upon a sphere. Figuratively this change in hand
+from cylinder- to sphere-holding capacity is illustrative of actual
+development in the intellectual grasping powers that became the
+distinguishing feature of mankind.
+
+
+_A Firm Foundation for Humanity_
+
+Thus far we have been able to trace the stages by which the hand
+developed in consequence of tree life. It is now necessary to follow
+the modifications which terminated this arboreal domination and
+consequently liberated the animal from the forest. This transition
+determined an adjustment to life that was finally productive of the
+most effective behaviour. The outcome of this modification was the
+freeing of the hand for purposes other than locomotion. The immediate
+agent that made such a result possible was the development of a foot
+capable of supporting the upright posture. This foot, as it made its
+appearance in man, passed through a long series of transitional phases.
+It had its beginning in a definitely prehensile stage when in the
+earliest of the monkey kind it was hand-like in its appearance. The
+structure that was the forerunner of the human foot had the same bones,
+the same muscles, the same ligaments. The only substantial difference
+was in the form and arrangement of these parts. Even in such a minute
+particular as the three contravehent muscles in the sole of the
+monkey’s foot, which draw together the heads of the metatarsal bones,
+the correspondence is complete. These muscles are present and active in
+the gibbon. They are much diminished in the chimpanzee. In the orang
+and the gorilla they are still further reduced and closely resemble
+the atrophic fibrous strands found in man. A similar correspondence
+involves the muscles which separate and draw the toes together (the
+interossei). They are deeply situated in the plantar surface of the
+foot in most monkeys. In the orang and gorilla they have exactly the
+same position and relations as in man. The human embryo affords the
+final connecting link, for in this stage of development the muscles
+correspond to those of the lower monkeys.
+
+The human foot is foreshadowed by that of the great anthropoids. It
+is, in fact, the culminating stage in that series which had almost
+reached the human goal in the orang, chimpanzee, and gorilla. The
+plantar grooves in the feet of the anthropoid apes clearly indicate
+the lines of flexion adapting the foot for purposes of grasping the
+limbs of the trees. In passing from the gibbon to the orang and the
+chimpanzee, with the slow development of semiterrestrial life, there
+is a progressive disappearance of the plantar grooves. This change
+illustrates the manner in which the foot became adapted to the purposes
+of bipedal locomotion. Of all the great apes, the gorilla makes the
+nearest approach to the human foot. The toes have become shorter and
+have lost their finger-like resemblances. The great toe has become
+larger and is partially assuming an axis in parallel with the other
+toes. It has also migrated toward the end of the foot and, in older
+adults, has lost much of its prehensile character. Another modification
+is the gradual broadening of the heel and the appearance of the plantar
+arch. All of these changes have been developed for the purposes of
+bipedal locomotion and the erect posture. In consequence of these new
+functions the simple grasping foot of the monkey is altered to serve as
+a powerful stepping lever. In its simian form the foot is a Y-shaped
+prehensile organ. The stem of the Y is represented by the long heel.
+The two branches are formed by the great toe and the lesser digits
+respectively. In the higher primates, such as the orang, chimpanzee,
+and gorilla, the simple Y foot has undergone a striking change.
+The sole of the foot, including the ball and the heel, has greatly
+increased, while the toes or grasping elements have become shorter. In
+gorilla this is particularly true of all the toes except the great
+toe, which has not only become somewhat longer but now tends to be in
+the main axis of the foot.
+
+The most important features in the development of the foot are the
+increase in the supporting surface of the heel and the appearance of
+the plantar arch. In the lower monkeys the arch of the foot is double.
+In the great apes, more especially in gorilla, the plantar arch is
+single and corresponds practically to that of the human foot. The
+sole pads have become fused to form the ball of the foot, while the
+development of the heel has caused the disappearance of the ankle pads.
+
+Whatever may have been the influences which caused certain members
+of the prehuman stock to desert the trees and live upon the ground,
+it is clear that one most important result of this change was the
+formation of the human foot. This structure was a solid foundation
+for the highest achievements of organic evolution. It ultimately
+produced an animal capable of dominating the world. It was responsible
+for all of the extensive changes incident to the erect posture--for
+the rearrangement in the shape of the body, for the squaring of the
+shoulders and the broadening of the pelvis, for readjustments in the
+position of the heart and lungs, for new provisions in supporting the
+abdominal organs, for a reordering in the relation of the eyes to
+provide for binocular, stereoscopic vision, for the modifications in
+the neck to suit the purposes of the most effective head movements,
+for the freeing of the hands so that they might become constructive
+agents, and, above all, for impressing upon brain structure the
+effects of these many progressive advantages. If there could be any
+doubt that the hand and the foot contributed in this decisive manner
+to the development of the brain, we might test this supposition by a
+pertinent question: What, for example, would the brain have been if
+neither hand nor foot had made its appearance? It is clear to us what
+limited advantages were acquired by animals equipped with hoofs or
+paws or flippers or wings. The brain responded to the requirements of
+these specialized organs. None the less, such response was always and
+unmistakably the brain of an ungulate or of a meat-eater, of a flying
+or of a swimming mammal. It was the brain of a creature of restricted
+behaviour, as limited in the development of its intelligence as it
+was in the amplitude of its adjustment to life. It was particularly
+deficient in one great department which is the hallmark of all animals
+possessing hands. Summarized as briefly as possible, it may be said
+that what the brain owes to the hand and foot is the frontal lobe.
+Through all the stages of progress, from the time when the monkeys
+first began to live in the trees until their successors, through graded
+intermediate phases, developed the hand and foot of man, this lobe has
+been the outstanding feature of the brain.
+
+It is perhaps unwise and also unwarranted to speak of the debt that one
+organ owes to others, especially when the activities of all represent
+a unified process. Brain, hand, and foot are in the strict sense a
+single functional unit. Each is indispensable to the others. Yet it
+may be assumed that it was the new opportunities for action provided by
+the hand and foot which at length gave the brain its human capacities.
+These ultimate instruments of man’s success amplified brain power and
+increased its sphere of influence. The hand in particular was the
+instigator, if not the originator, of human speech. Herbert Spencer,
+in his essay on “The Philosophy of Style,” clearly points out the
+fundamental relation of the hand to speech, in the following words: “To
+say ‘leave the room,’ is less expressive than to point to the door.
+Placing a finger on the lips is more forcible than whispering ‘Do not
+speak.’ A beck of the hand is better than ‘Come here.’” As the creator
+of indicative gesture the hand laid the foundations for the use of
+symbols, which, when vocalized, became established as language. This
+attainment was the most important single step in the ascent leading to
+humanity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+ESTIMATES AND VALUES
+
+ASSETS AND LIABILITIES OF THE HUMAN BRAIN
+
+
+There is substantial evidence to prove that the brain passed through
+many intermediate stages before it acquired sufficient power to enter
+upon the latest stage of its progress. Wherever it has come down
+into modern times, regardless of race or climate, it bears marked
+similarities in its external appearance. In spite of this strong family
+likeness, however, there are many individual variations. Some of these
+variations are especially noteworthy. Certain of them are of utmost
+importance because it is possible to discover in them the secret of
+man’s highest achievements.
+
+In the average human brain, as in these notable exceptions, the
+principle of development remains unchanged. Expansion, the root and
+base of this principle, has been most pronounced in the departments
+capable of creating human supremacy. From order to order among the
+mammals, increase in the size of the brain has been prominent.
+Depending upon the specialization of the animal, this increase has
+affected the area of vision, of hearing, of body sense, of taste, or
+of smell. Only in the family of man has this expansion made itself
+preëminent in the frontal region. Frontal growth is the dominant
+character of man’s physical endowment. It seems reasonable, therefore,
+to speak of the entire period of human existence as the Age of the
+Frontal Lobe.
+
+
+_The Frontal Lobe and the Expansion of Consciousness_
+
+Selective development in the brain has had far-reaching effects. It
+has provided for special adaptability. It has furnished one or more
+of the senses with a particular degree of keenness. It has determined
+the specific lines of reaction. These lines in all animal life express
+themselves in three phases: (1) the approaching phase, (2) the avoiding
+phase, and (3) the resting phase. In the vertebrates each phase depends
+upon impulses which influence the nervous system, particularly the
+brain. The approaching reactions embrace all efforts made by the animal
+to reach out and acquire what it needs. In these reactions the hunger
+impulse is the most primitive and the most important. It arises from
+the necessity for food and depends upon stimuli from the entire body,
+more especially from the gastro-intestinal tract. Another series of
+approaching reactions takes origin in the herding impulse, which leads
+to the gregarious association of animals of the same kind, such as
+schools of fish, flocks of birds, herds of cattle. The stimuli for this
+impulse come through the contact-receiving organs. Many approaching
+reactions express the essential necessity of the muscles to contract,
+as in activities without any other apparent objective. Still more
+conspicuous are the approaching reactions caused by the mating
+impulses which arise from sexual stimuli.
+
+Impulses of each variety motivating these reactions of approach
+ascend higher in consciousness, or acquire greater clarity, in direct
+proportion to the brain capacity of the animal. Consciousness in fish
+is of a relatively low grade. It becomes progressively more extensive
+in amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, reaching its highest
+development in the human cortex. The frontal lobe in man provides for
+an incalculable expansion of these impulses in conscious clarity.
+
+The avoiding reactions of animal life likewise depend upon fundamental
+impulses whose essential stimuli arise from the hurt or painful
+elements in sensation. All extremes of sensory stimulation may
+contribute to impulses underlying the avoiding reactions. They form
+the natural armament of protection upon which the animal depends in
+adjusting itself to its surroundings. As in the case of the approaching
+reactions, so the impulses necessary to avoidance are progressively
+expanded through the vertebrates until they reach their highest clarity
+in the human brain. The resting phase depends upon impulses derived
+from the entire metabolism of the body.
+
+These fundamental impulses which become clearer in consciousness
+through the progressive stages of the animal kingdom tend to interact
+in their correlations and determine combinations of great importance.
+Avoiding impulses of a protective nature may combine with approaching
+impulses to determine a reaction of attack in order to save the
+animal from some threatening enemy. Thus a protective effort may be
+a combination of an avoiding and an attacking attitude at the same
+time, as when the mongoose, jumping backward in retreat from the
+striking cobra, still maintains the pose of attack in the entire set
+of its body. The resting phase may be employed as camouflage for an
+avoiding reaction in what is commonly known as “playing ’possum,” or
+it may be used as a decoy in preparation for aggressive activities of
+attack, particularly as seen in the cat family. In man the range of
+these combinations has attained the highest degree of development. The
+frontal lobe furnishes an extensive equipment for this purpose. In
+all modern races frontal capacity manifests but little difference. It
+therefore seems clear that this common denominator of human success has
+given man his power to hold his place in nature and to overcome the
+difficulties which have beset his path.
+
+
+_Caucasian Supremacy_
+
+The greater apparent successes of the white race might presuppose a
+greater degree of brain capacity and hence a better frontal lobe. But
+the frontal superiority of the Caucasian peoples, if it exists, is at
+best slight. The white man’s supremacy must, however, depend upon some
+actual advantage. Although outnumbered two to one, he is to-day the
+overlord of the world. Of the 1,700,000,000 human beings now living,
+only 550,000,000 are Caucasians. The remaining 1,150,000,000 belong
+to the yellow, black, and red races. In spite of this disparity, the
+white man’s policies, his products, his projects, penetrate into every
+angle of the earth whose climate, fertility, or hidden wealth may be
+exploited by resources of the Caucasian brain.
+
+Numerous facts indicate that in the white race there has been
+an unusually large number of individuals with exceptional brain
+development. Many Caucasians who have distinguished themselves
+intellectually show conspicuous advantages in cerebral development,
+especially in the richness of convolutions and fissures. The region of
+the brain showing this richness particularly is the frontal lobe.
+
+
+_Brains of Modern Races_
+
+This lobe is much the same in all modern races of men. The Eskimo
+brain, however, possesses frontal convolutions which are rather more
+complex and tortuous than in the average whites (Hrdlicka). As a
+whole, the brain of this northern race is heavier and larger than the
+Caucasian. Its excess of weight over the average white man, according
+to many observers, amounts to about 150 grams. The large Eskimo brain
+is not out of proportion with the fact that these people are compelled
+to contend with an exacting environment and require much ingenuity to
+maintain themselves.
+
+The brains of the aborigines in Andaman and Nicobar Islands weigh
+somewhat less than the average white brain. The brain is broad and
+short; the frontal lobes are a little less massive than in the
+Caucasian. The fissures and convolutions are, if anything, slightly
+less complex than in the white man, although the difference is not
+striking (E. A. Spitzka).
+
+The negro brain, for the most part, has the same outline as the
+European brain (Tiedemann). The length and height of the hemispheres
+do not differ visibly, and their breadth is only a little less. The
+convolutions are large in the frontal regions and the sulci show a
+greater degree of symmetry than is usually found in European brains.
+
+Among the American Indians the average weight of the brain is somewhat
+less than the Caucasian (H. B. Ferris). This is true both of the
+North and South American Indian. On the other hand, the fissures and
+convolutions, especially in the frontal region, correspond very closely
+in complexity and dimension to those of the white man.
+
+Examination of Mongolian brains shows that the average weight of the
+Chinese brain is slightly less than that of the Caucasian (Kurz).
+The Chinese brain is said to have a number of striking peculiarities
+in which it differs from the brain of other races. One investigator
+mentions thirty-three peculiarities of this kind, and yet when each
+peculiarity is considered individually its prototype may be found in
+an extensive group study of Caucasian brains. The frontal lobe is
+richly convoluted and fissured. Kappers believes that the Chinese brain
+retains a degree of infantilism, much of which is shown in the high
+arching of the corpus callosum.
+
+Accepting all of these differences in the several races of living men
+as to weight, dimension, development of lobes, richness of convolutions
+and fissures, and peculiarities in individual details, it becomes
+clear that such differences as do exist are slight enough to be well
+within the range of individual variation. In other words, when large
+numbers of brains of the several races of modern men are compared,
+the differences between them are almost certain to assume no great
+importance. We may conclude that the Caucasian, Negroid, Mongolian, and
+all other forms of the modern brain present a striking similarity in
+their general appearance and characters.
+
+
+_Brains of Distinguished Men_
+
+When, however, we consider the brains of distinguished members
+of the white race, we at once obtain the impression of striking
+individual variations. The brains of many men of genius have been
+carefully studied. Spitzka has collected the records of one hundred
+such individuals to which he has added his own studies upon six
+distinguished scientists. All tell the same story. These men, noted
+as jurists, scientists, mathematicians, composers, dramatists,
+physicians, journalists, statesmen, and historians, have with few
+exceptions possessed brains which in weight exceed those of the rank
+and file of the race. This is true of the brain of such outstanding
+men as Beethoven, Cuvier, Turgenev, Daniel Webster, Lenin, Thackeray,
+Joseph Leidy, William Pepper, Edward Cope, and many others. The brain
+of the remarkable deaf, dumb, and blind girl, Laura Bridgman, has
+been carefully studied by Dr. Donaldson. It is notable that in this
+instance the frontal lobes, both in size and in the richness of the
+convolutions and fissures, were well developed. It was in this region
+that the brains of the distinguished contributors to human progress
+already mentioned showed their greatest degree of expansion. Recently
+reports on the brains of Sir William Osler, of Dr. G. Stanley Hall,
+and of Dr. E. E. Southard have been published. In each of these
+remarkable men the size of the brain and the unusual development of
+the frontal lobe have been striking features. The brain of the great
+German historian, Theodore Mommsen, was particularly notable because of
+its frontal development, and so also was that of William Bunsen, the
+scientist and discoverer.
+
+In contrast to the massive brains of these other men of genius, there
+has recently been brought to light the fact that the brain of a great
+modern master of literature, Anatole France, was remarkably small,
+weighing only 1017 grams. This weight is considerably below the average
+for the white race (1300-1400 grams) and not much above the estimated
+weight of _Pithecanthropus erectus_, the Java ape man. The difference
+between the weight of Anatole France’s brain and that of the ape man is
+77 grams, according to the estimated values. Sir Arthur Keith maintains
+that in spite of this noted academician’s reputation, known the world
+over for his writings as a novelist, philosopher, and savant, Anatole
+France was actually an extremely primitive man. This position taken by
+Keith would be difficult to support against the prevailing opinions
+of the day. We should be more impressed by the degree of richness in
+development of the frontal lobe and the complexity of its convolutions
+and fissures than by the actual size of the brain. It would seem
+most likely that a marked degree of frontal development has been the
+decisive factor in the production of the exceptional brain. Most of the
+great men who have left records in respect to their cerebral endowment
+confirm Sir Arthur’s contention that a powerful brain is a large brain.
+Individual variation may account for much, however, and a high grade
+of frontal convolution, implying as it does a great cell richness
+in a cortex, may make amends for many ounces of weight deficiency.
+From the facts available it is clear that human greatness in the main
+depends upon largeness of brain and extensive frontal development. The
+possessors of such brains have been the leaders in the activities of
+the white man, in every line of his progress, in every detail of his
+success. They have been the Caucasian thinkers, the idealists, the
+philosophers, the poets and artists; they have been the white man’s
+pragmatists, his statesmen and builders of empire. They have also been
+his spiritual pioneers, the founders of his religions and ethics. To
+them has been given exceptional power of vision, with equally great
+capacities for transforming what such vision revealed into benefits for
+their race.
+
+
+_Caucasian Leaders_
+
+History gives them their proper places. Their dynamic personalities
+have touched the earth and made it bring forth its seven wonders and
+an increasing multitude of lesser wonders, each a marvel of human
+ingenuity. As they touched the earth and made it produce, so they have
+touched the hearts and imaginations of their fellow men until their
+minds responded to new aspirations and nobler purposes, until the mark
+of the beast was left farther in the distance and the ascendancy of
+mankind became the most stirring theme of creation.
+
+History also shows how these favoured elements of the race, under
+the guidance of their leaders, have built brilliant civilizations,
+compelling systems of religion, far-reaching codes of ethics. Nations
+have risen, articulating the ideals of peoples scattered over vast
+territories. Cities have come into existence filled with the treasures
+of man’s imagination. The same aspiration shone through them all. It
+was the spirit, the determination to reach out where man had never
+reached before.
+
+Whatever were his material successes, still more important was that
+inner possession which came to man during his adventurous development
+of civilization. However simple it may have been in the beginning, it
+grew rapidly. This priceless possession was the human intellect. In
+many tribes of men it manifested none of the expansion discernible
+in the more progressive races. But with its fullest opportunity,
+especially under the conditions of European environment, it developed
+to the degree which created a new humanity. Man recognized his
+interdependence with his fellow beings. His social qualities now began
+to bear fruit in a new soil and in a more invigorating atmosphere. The
+finer traits of his social nature grew abundantly. Broader conceptions
+of responsibility to others, deeper understandings of sympathy, led to
+new products of generosity and new vocations of social devotion. All of
+the higher sentiments found easier means of expression. These were new
+conceptions denied to lower animals and to the lower races of man.
+
+Scarcely less substantial than the satisfaction derived from this deep
+social sentiment was the gratification obtained from an appreciation of
+the beauties of nature and from man’s own efforts to duplicate these
+beauties in his art and literature. But his eyes have never contented
+themselves with earthly attractiveness alone. When he had possessed the
+earth he must still reach out in imagination to gain for himself the
+assurance of kingdoms beyond his present state. In all his civilized
+period and even long before man has peered acquisitively into the
+unknown, to create for himself a future existence or the hope of such
+existence. This yearning for another and an immortal life has been
+the basis of his many religious beliefs. From this theme of religion
+have grown the impulses for the best of human achievements. It has not
+merely formed a halo about civilization, but has reached far inward to
+exert control over almost every human relation. No influence has been a
+greater force in the ennoblement of life. No creation of the brain has
+been a more effective guide in directing human destiny. No incentive
+has sustained human hope more consistently than the solace arising from
+this deep source of faith.
+
+
+_Age of the Frontal Lobe_
+
+The frontal lobe, which has guaranteed such advantages to man,
+brought him his spiritual understanding, his social attributes, and
+his satisfactions from art and literature. It created the means
+for him to gain a more adequate knowledge of the world in which he
+lived and of the great cosmos of which his world is but a part. The
+conquest of reality, the deeper appreciation of things as they are,
+the broad expansion of his knowledge of all things in and about him,
+have contributed deep satisfactions to human life. It is difficult
+to estimate in this day the value of all the great contributions to
+science. It is difficult also to state which product of man’s frontal
+lobe, his social development, his religion, his art, his literature,
+or his science, has meant most to the growth of that imposing figure
+in which he now presents himself. No one of these elements may justly
+deserve to be set above the others. Deprived of any of them, the
+race might have been seriously impoverished; it might never have
+attained that position which entitles it to be considered the supreme
+achievement of creation. It is little wonder that the gods which man
+set up for himself have been anthropomorphic, cast in his own image and
+likeness.
+
+In later days there were reasons for the Caucasian’s assurance, for
+his self-reliance, for his faith in his own judgment and reason. Peace
+and comity existed between the nations of the earth. Prosperity was
+within their borders. Success and progress filled every walk of life.
+Social order rested upon firm moral foundations. This was a human
+establishment upon which to depend. But ultimately this record of the
+white man, from the beginning of his civilized period down to the early
+decades of the Twentieth Century, brings us to a fateful midsummer day,
+the 1st of August, 1914.
+
+
+_Old Sores and Liabilities_
+
+Perhaps there are no good reasons for turning back to such old
+sores. Can any conceivable advantage come of opening again those
+vaults holding that which we would rather forget? With passing years
+memory gradually relinquishes what should be the immortal lessons of
+experience. The horror, the degradation, and all other outgrowths of
+the protective mechanisms making for better judgment, for saner living,
+for wiser avoidance, are soon forgotten. We look and see only the
+whited sepulchre. The dissolution and disease, the lurking danger for
+the future, are concealed. Yet these are our liabilities. If we drive
+on blindly or with our eyes closed to them, such prosperity as we have
+attained is destined to disintegrate.
+
+It is the old formula over again that we see beginning to reproduce
+itself on that fateful August afternoon. The expansive demand for
+power, the will to dominate, the insatiable determination to possess,
+are all disdainfully snapping their fingers in disregard of the rights
+and peaceful pursuits of others. Sacred obligations are thrown to the
+winds with the crackling of a scrap of paper. There are no obligations.
+Lust, greed, and the dregs of human cruelty are seething in the
+breasts of men turned animals, are ready to speak with the tongues of
+every manner of ruthless torment. By armies men return to the filth
+of the earth, living in the mire, breathing the stenches of their own
+corruption, inhaling the gases of sadistic invention, meeting the flame
+of an earthly purgatory, and inspired by the single indefatigable
+impulse to kill. And for what purpose? None but the old one! To grasp,
+to gain, to seize by force! There is no question of right or wrong. The
+only question is right of possession. Both those who attack and those
+who defend pray to the same God and pray the same prayer.
+
+Here in our own days is the frontal lobe leading a great fraction
+of the white race not merely into hell but to the brink of its own
+undoing. If it failed in this leadership it was by the narrowest
+margin. It has left us still gasping on the edge of the precipice into
+whose depths we have gazed, wondering how long ere we see them again.
+
+Courage, endurance, and heroic determination we say were the
+compensating atonements for this madness, for this maniacal era of
+wanton destruction. Nobility of purpose rang out in the defiance--“They
+shall not pass!” Yet where was the nobility in that machine-made death
+which swept regiment after regiment into oblivion by its withering
+fire? Who now will claim the glory of 400,000 dead in less than a
+lunar month, of 8,543,515 fighting men fallen in the early prime of
+manhood in four years of war? Is this the chronicle for a great race to
+glory in? It is rather the record of the white man at his lowest ebb,
+dehumanized for a mere bauble of possession.
+
+Thus, through four brief years, out of the unhallowed precincts of no
+man’s land, the mark of the beast came back. The white man learned
+that the cloak over his baser passions was a thin veneer. He learned,
+or may have learned if there has yet been time to recover from the
+overwhelming concussion, that he is not yet master of himself, that
+the chief guide of his life may on slight provocation lead him not
+rightly or well, but with unerring precision, into the pitfalls of
+extermination.
+
+
+_When the Pressure Comes_
+
+We speak of loyalties and vocations of devotion. Where are these when
+the pressure comes? Where are they when the man stands with his mob?
+The greatest and best things in life at once take flight. There is not
+even standing-room for them when hate and revenge are the passions of
+the day. It is then that class stands against class. All that wealth
+and culture and luxury have built through centuries finds no strength
+against the ire galvanized by equal centuries of oppression. Those who
+have suffered their silent agonies confront those who are about to die.
+Such have been the tragedies of revolution. So it was in the French
+Revolution, with its history of guillotine horrors. Such was the case
+of Russia in revolt. Such it has always been wherever the privilege to
+enjoy, concentrated for the benefit of the few, has worked disadvantage
+to the many. Neither those who for the time enjoy, nor those who
+are deprived, have sufficiently learned the lessons of moderation,
+self-restraint, and control over the human spirit to hold in check the
+baser impulses.
+
+War, revolution, and other mass reactions in the interest of
+readjusting man’s social conditions are not rare in our racial
+experience. Since the beginning of historic times there have been
+thousands of wars of greater or less magnitude. If, during the Roman
+era, the gates in the temple of Janus stood open for centuries and
+that great people were almost continuously at war without appreciable
+cessation, we moderns would have no need for an energetic gatekeeper.
+In one place or another, throughout the globe, we have been
+continuously waging war or producing revolutions. Following the close
+of the great World War, a little more than a decade ago, there have
+been no less than sixteen wars, and seventy-five thousand men have died
+as a result of warfare. Let those who philosophize in security call
+war an activity essential to human progress. Those who know it through
+suffering and loss will call it by its proper name. It is not, however,
+in war alone that we may discern the results of our defective control
+over human nature. We need turn but a few pages of history to encounter
+many other sore spots. Among these blemishes are those arising from
+a source which should have been our most unfailing, our deepest
+consolation.
+
+
+_Heresy and Retaliation_
+
+The spiritual heritage bequeathed by the Great Galilean retained
+its influence for little more than two centuries. Through the dark
+Middle Ages Christianity wandered far from the path of its appointed
+blessedness. To many it ceased altogether to be a blessing, and to
+many others it became an actual curse, meaning for them torture,
+imprisonment, starvation, humiliation, or death by burning at the
+stake. There can be little wonder that heresies sprang up against the
+inhuman conduct of the mediæval Church. Corruption, discrimination,
+demoralization, abuse, and tyranny went unrebuked. The church
+militant was infected by every sin that it was created to prevent.
+Heresy was the reaction to such corruption, and the Inquisition
+was the retaliation on the part of the Church to preserve itself
+against heretical disintegration. The barbarous zeal which through
+many centuries brought misery to mankind in the name of Christ has
+been explained in several ways. Some have denounced it as mere
+bloodthirstiness or lust of power. Some have traced it to the doctrine
+of exclusive salvation. In order to understand it properly we must
+comprehend the stage of civilization in which it flourished. The feudal
+military spirit was everywhere dominant. Society relied more upon
+force than upon persuasion. Industrial influences had not yet tempered
+modes of thought and action. Throughout the Middle Ages men were
+strangely pitiless in their dealings with each other. The wheel, the
+cauldron of boiling oil, burning alive, burying alive, flaying alive,
+and tearing apart with wild horses were the ordinary means by which
+jurists endeavoured to deter crime. In England poisoners were boiled to
+death as late as 1542 (Rouse and Margaret Davie). One woman, in 1726,
+was burned at Tyburn. Minor crimes were dealt with with a harshness
+unbelievable in this day, including such hideous procedures as
+blinding, mutilation, tearing with hot pincers, breaking on the wheel,
+and cutting out the tongue. People of all nations were accustomed to
+this cruel savagery and accepted it in relation to crimes that were
+thus punished. By popular detestation heresy was regarded not merely as
+a sin but as the worst of all crimes. This belief was held with equal
+tenacity both by the clergy and the laity. Under the influence of such
+feelings the Church adopted the harshest measures and continued to grow
+more cruel and more unchristian.
+
+The Inquisition was not a local phenomenon. It became most intense in
+Italy, where it gradually took shape. In time it spread into Germany,
+into France, and into Spain. The Spanish Inquisition was employed for
+the most part as a state institution to maintain the throne. It used
+all of the ingenuity known to the ecclesiastical inquisitors and added
+punishments of its own. The torture chamber, which at first was not
+introduced as an inquisitorial instrument, soon established itself
+as an indispensable accessory and flourished in many parts of Europe.
+There was a furtiveness in the manner in which the Church doled out
+these punishments. For the repentant heretic life imprisonment on
+bread and water and in chains was not a criminal sentence; it was the
+means of repentance and salvation for the unfortunate sinner. If the
+heretic remained unrepentant the Church washed its hands of him as a
+capital offender and turned him over to the secular authorities to be
+burned at the stake. The dungeon in which the unfortunate victim was
+imprisoned for life was a frightful chamber, damp, and infested by rats
+and vermin. Confinement was solitary and various circumstances besides
+pain and hunger were brought to bear upon the terrorized imagination
+of the prisoner. These dungeons were often ingenious means of torture.
+One in the Bastille at Paris had a floor which was conical and pointed
+downward so that it was impossible to sit or lie in it. Another in
+the Châtelet had a floor continually covered by water, compelling the
+prisoner to stand erect. Persons convicted of heresy were also forced
+to wear crosses of cloth, generally yellow, sewed upon their garments.
+In this manner the symbol of Christian devotion was converted into a
+badge of utmost shame. Confiscation was another penalty with frightful
+effects. Upon arrest for heresy a man’s property was sequestrated,
+and his family thrown into the street. After several centuries of
+unremitting cruelty the Inquisition succeeded in suppressing the
+various sects of heretics. For this advantage the Christian Church
+paid an unnecessarily high price by gaining for itself a lasting stigma.
+
+
+_Provocations of Circumstance and Time_
+
+Such interludes as these in the course of man’s happiness and peace
+may perhaps be regarded as unfortunate digressions from the scheme of
+human behaviour. Their apology lies in the fact that they belong to
+other times by contrast with which we have shown great improvement. We
+are much changed for the better--so much changed that many of these
+appalling episodes of history could not occur in this day. Reassurance
+of this kind may comfort us, but it does not provide us with protection
+against ourselves. For with due provocations of circumstance and
+time there is no guarantee that we would not repeat or even amplify
+the ghastly delinquencies of the past. The pride we feel in our
+modern progress and prosperity elevates us to a plane of conscious
+superiority. And yet this same pride experienced a sickening collapse
+when no later than our own day and generation it was forced to witness
+a phenomenon of eruptive brutality compared to which all former warfare
+was insignificant. In spite of this recent experience we feel sure of
+ourselves, confident in the great capacities which have made us men.
+We possess this confidence, however unenlightened we may be concerning
+the real power upon which we depend, especially as to its source, its
+nature, its possibilities, and its proper management.
+
+
+_Compounding the Essential Impulses of Life_
+
+As no other members of the animal kingdom, we have compounded each
+one of the essential impulses of life. Through our frontal mechanisms
+we have raised these primitive drives to the most elevated planes of
+consciousness. We have increased their clarity to the highest degree.
+It was doubtless the introduction of symbols which first secured this
+greater clarity. Later the development of spoken language established
+the universal medium of exchange within the brain. Lower animals
+evidently do not learn to speak. They only acquire the use of beast
+cries by which to transmit warnings, sex invitations, or challenges to
+combat. Such specific cries modified by the structural adjustments of
+man may have been sufficient for the simple human language of earliest
+times. There seems to be no actual barrier between the vocal activities
+of birds, dogs, apes, and men except that superior mechanism of speech
+provided by a progressively developing frontal lobe. From its first
+introduction language was a societal phenomenon. All of its products
+were likewise societal. If it raised man as an individual, its greatest
+profits appeared in the elevation of the social order. Under this new
+influence the primitive impulses of hunger, herding, mating, avoiding,
+and the rest entered into complex combinations. In consequence, each
+primordial drive was converted into a thriving industry in the interest
+of further human satisfaction. Excessive growth in these industries
+soon manifested many dangerous tendencies. New human expansions
+developed out of the primitive impulse of hunger under the added
+opportunities of the frontal lobe. Appetite and indulgence with their
+tendencies toward excess came in conflict with sumptuary restrictions
+and prohibitions. The effects of frontal expansion upon the herding
+impulse contributed to the development of crime, to the creation of
+mass phenomena under the influence of fear, hate, and hope, to the
+epidemic spread of group manias and popular delusions such as were
+the pilgrimages, crusades, and demonism of the Middle Ages, such
+as was the extremity of ruthlessness manifested in the last great
+war. The extension of the sex impulse through the mechanisms of the
+frontal lobe is incalculable. From it have come crops of asceticism
+and licentiousness, of poetry and sentimentality, of social order and
+disorder, of philosophy and pure bunkum. The expansion of impulses
+underlying the avoiding reactions has produced an unescapable blight
+upon human life due to the extensive corticalization of fear. The fear
+of bondage or slavery, of tyranny or cruelty, is no longer upon us.
+A multitude of more subtle fears, engendered by modern civilization,
+have produced our phobias, our irresistible compulsions, and our great
+variety of somatic and psychic anxieties.
+
+
+_Human Nature Has Not Changed_
+
+The incentives of life have been magnified and multiplied upon the
+screen of the frontal cortex. They have afforded man his powers of
+judgment and reason, his greater capacities to enjoy existence, his
+new aspirations of hope. They have supplied him with his broader
+opportunities to order and adjust his life and with his stimulating
+inspirations of learning. Each of these new capacities is conditioned
+by the circumstance and fashion of a given age. There is no arguing
+with such fashion. The _mores_ and the times, the customs and the
+place, dominate the products of the frontal lobe and mold them in
+constantly changing patterns. The fashion of yesterday is often
+the laughing stock of to-day as that of to-day may be the jest of
+to-morrow. These plastic patterns, which the frontal lobe produces
+for the conduct of human affairs, have neither permanency nor assured
+foundations. Great principles which we swear by now we know are wholly
+transitory. While they last certain moral notions and devices are in
+fashion, but these are conditioned by the times and customs. In such
+facts as these may be recognized the variable quality of human wisdom.
+Reason is likewise based upon conditioned reflexes which have grown out
+of the _mores_ of the time and place. In this light, if man seems to
+have come a long distance from his early beginning, the path measured
+in units of real progress is surprisingly short. “Things happen,” says
+Sumner, “which show us that human nature has not changed and that the
+brute in each may awake at any time. It is all a question of time,
+custom, and occasion and the individual is coerced to adopt the _mores_
+as to these matters which are then and there current.”
+
+Morals and manners, like speech, are societal adjustments. They are
+highly conditioned reflexes acquired through generations of social
+experience. Self-restraint, agreeability, and coöperation form the
+basic currency of successful social intercourse. They are the artifacts
+of group needs, the medium of exchange in all comfortable and safe
+contacts between man and man. That these qualities are superficially
+engrafted upon human nature is easily demonstrated. With adequate
+provocation the individual discards restraint and reveals the grossest
+traits of his aggressive reactions, the group is quickly resolved into
+the lawless mob, and nations are easily excited to martial frenzy.
+
+What benefits, therefore, will we obtain by further self-deceptions?
+It is long overdue that we see through the thin fabric of traditional
+delusions wherewith we have surrounded ourselves. It requires courage
+to face the truth and an open mind to recognize it. But we cannot hope
+to improve unless we see ourselves as we are, unless we appreciate our
+inherent liabilities as well as our assets, unless, divested of angelic
+or godlike disguises, we stand forth for our own inspection as human
+animals occupying the foremost place among living things only by virtue
+of the best brain thus far developed. Much that is animal within us
+must remain unchanged despite our utmost strivings. All that is human
+may be modified, enhanced, and brought to better fruition.
+
+
+_Handicaps and Restraints_
+
+Almost from its beginning the race has recognized its handicaps. It has
+struggled in many ways against its own liabilities, especially those
+due to increased brain power. By systems of philosophy the human spirit
+has sought to show the reason and goal of life, has endeavoured to
+envisage the most desirable pathway for existence.
+
+Man has endeavoured to hold himself in check through religion, bowing
+to the belief that for every human being there is some higher power
+controlling destiny and for this reason entitled to obedient reverence
+and worship. For his hour of need, however, philosophy and religion
+offer no reprieve. The Great War comes, and assurances from these
+sources of human reliance have no power to stay the catastrophe.
+
+Man has experimented through societal organization, through the
+formation of governments, through the establishment of laws, to
+restrain the dangerous tendencies of his frontal lobe development. But
+if his governments succeeded in utilizing effectively his efforts at
+social order, they have also abused these efforts. In every societal
+system there must be a ruling class. According to Professor Sumner,
+no class can be trusted to rule society with due justice to all its
+members. Whatever the sins of antiquity, modern society is ruled by
+the middle class. It has to its credit the invention of institutions
+securing civil liberty and the safety of person and property. Its
+history is otherwise not satisfactory. It has demonstrated that in no
+popular government could sufficient control be created to restrain the
+abuses of special privilege, to avert the corruption of civic power
+for graft, or to repress the selfish undertakings of cliques formed on
+special interests for the purpose of public exploitation. When faced by
+this test, all modern democratic states have failed. Plutocracy and the
+unscrupulous powers of wealth are at the root of the financial scandal,
+which is the blemish upon all modern parliamentary organizations. We
+must recognize this defect not merely as a tendency of the times but as
+a national disease. It spoils every institution and, extending from one
+generation to the next, at length destroys in the masses the faculties
+of ethical judgment.
+
+
+_The Cult of Success_
+
+By education man has likewise endeavoured to moderate the recognized
+liabilities of his frontal lobe. But, like his customs, his education
+has varied with the fashions of his time and place. With one brilliant
+exception educational processes have too strictly been confined to
+technological training, or to the inculcation of traditional cultures
+or mediæval scholasticism. The ancient Greek alone dealt with his life
+and its problems as we well might with ours. We are imitators and large
+users of secondhand materials. He was an originator. His education was
+an adventure of discovery, an absorbing search for the understanding
+of what constituted the good life. Largely without traditions and upon
+his own initiative he endeavoured to gain a critical attitude toward
+all of his prejudices, to liberate himself from the dominance of herd
+influence, and to adjust his conduct most intelligently for the welfare
+of the state.
+
+Modern education is especially in a state of confusion. It is almost
+wholly devoid of any broader theme than that embraced in the purpose
+to teach the individual the formulas necessary to make good. There
+is little effort to inspire a larger point of view, to instill an
+understanding of life’s values, an appreciation of its relations, and
+of its truly human opportunities for intelligent living.
+
+Philosophy, religion, societal order, government, and education have
+failed to produce any entirely satisfactory solution of life. They have
+scarcely recognized the existence of the frontal lobe, but, looking
+beyond it to some intangible sources of power, they have neither
+capitalized its assets nor reckoned with its liabilities. There is
+probably a cause of long standing behind these several failures. For
+centuries and ages the incentives of human efforts, even the best, have
+laboured under a contaminating influence. This influence has touched
+and tainted every aspect of life. During thousands of years men have
+struggled to make good in Europe. The result has always been the same.
+From time to time some section of the race has succeeded, later to
+weaken, and in the end to succumb. In the past an invariable cycle of
+rise, decline, and fall has dictated the course of life in Europe.
+Such was the lot of the Neanderthals. Cromagnon and Neolithic men both
+had their days of success and of disappearance. It was not different
+with the Greeks or the Romans who rose and finally, under this spell
+of Europe, passed into decline. In many respects the motive at work in
+this destructive cycle seemed to act like some evil influence. It was
+already well developed in the first trading exploits of the Phœnicians.
+With them it began to migrate westward from harbour to harbour along
+the Mediterranean. It implanted the germs of its spreading infection,
+which came to be the dominant spirit of civilization--gold and a price
+for everything. Nothing escaped the effects of this new standardization
+of human enterprise. The pioneer Phœnicians carried this gold standard
+of life far beyond the Pillars of Hercules to the shores of Britain
+until it spread throughout Europe. The source of this influence
+lies far back of these earlier civilizations. It had its origin
+in those primitive days when Mousterian cave man tasted the first
+drafts of power. The use of this power he justified by one standard
+only--success. For three hundred thousand years the human brain
+has been conditioned by this influence. Power increased, successes
+multiplied, and the passion for possession became a frenzy. Thus it
+was that those whom the gods would destroy they first made rich; and
+thus also one civilization after another met its destruction. No other
+solution can be worked out on this standard of existence. It will serve
+to exploit nature, including human nature. It may bend the natural
+forces one after another to man’s bidding. It may make him master
+of the entire world except in one superlative detail--himself. In
+proportion as it has been concentrated upon the conquest of the earth,
+it has had little time for the mastery of the spirit. The old idea
+is still at work with us to-day. We have found nothing new, nothing
+better. We scarcely attempt to look. It is now our ruling passion. It
+has been the contaminating influence which has for ages frustrated the
+best human efforts.
+
+Wealth, with the power to confer upon the greatest number the benefits
+of true human satisfaction, is not to be condemned. Its acquisition
+and proper distribution must be intelligently encouraged. Such wealth
+is the just return on man’s efforts to make and maintain for himself
+a wholesome place in nature. But riches, representing egocentric
+aggrandizement and the upbuilding of special privilege for selfish
+ends, are an open sore in all times and a most serious menace for the
+future.
+
+The ancient motive of possession is still the most powerful urge among
+civilized peoples. It has exerted an increasingly evil influence upon
+modern times. Its effects have been unfavourable because possession and
+power depend upon the offensive and defensive mechanisms of aggression.
+Such mechanisms are the progenitors of war. They promote the conflicts
+of social rivalry between classes and incite the struggles for
+competitive supremacy between nations. If the goal of such life is
+success, the price of such success is strife. This is the standard
+of existence which has prevailed for at least three hundred thousand
+years. It seems irrevocable. Nothing visible in our modern world
+suggests the cessation of its destroying influence. In the absence
+of any present reassurance there is a strong probability that we are
+following, to its bitter ends, a path long familiar to our race.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE FINAL TEST OF THE BRAIN
+
+WORLD COÖPERATION AND RECIVILIZATION
+
+
+Our most vital issue is no longer a matter of national prosperity
+alone. The success and therefore the happiness of the entire world are
+at stake. This generation of ours has taught us what to expect from the
+old forces of competitive wealth and nationalism. It is not difficult
+to foresee the recurrence of one war after another. As Dr. Butler has
+so forcibly said: “The world is just now standing at a crossroads.
+It may take the path in one direction and so make agriculture,
+industry, commerce, trade, finance, the fortunate means of uniting
+the whole world, of increasing its prosperity and of buttressing its
+peace; or it can take the opposite path and so turn the nations into
+narrow-minded, unsympathetic, jealous, and quarrelling neighbours,
+and prepare the way for another cataclysm which, if it should come,
+would mark civilization’s end. What are we going to do about it? Where
+shall our influence be thrown? Shall it be for a repetition of the
+old stupidities, the old ignorances and the old antagonisms, or shall
+it be for a new world order in which selfish competition shall be
+supplanted by kindly and large-minded coöperation? That is in substance
+the crucial question which at this moment awaits answer by leaders of
+opinion in every land.”[1] There are many who believe that man in
+his present exalted phase cannot stand the test. His modern days are
+numbered just as surely as were those of his ancient glory. He has no
+further reliance, no better assurance now than he had then. The fate
+of civilization hangs in the balance; its chances in many respects
+are unpromising. There are no guarantees for the future outside of
+man himself. Although we have multiplied in number and compounded our
+problems of life, the world in which we live is much the same as it has
+been for hundreds of thousands of years. If man also remains unchanged
+we may expect the same lot which befell other successful people in the
+past.
+
+[1] From “The New Center of Gravity,” an address delivered at the
+Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, L. I., on Sunday evening, September 1,
+1929, by Nicholas Murray Butler.
+
+And yet looking beneath the surface and into the depths of the organ
+which has been the chief asset of our progress, we may discern
+some promising possibilities. These are possibilities which if
+developed might subordinate or overcome the ancient lures of power
+and possession. They might even establish a new order of existence,
+a new age of wisdom, with clearer ways of looking at life and better
+methods for realizing its opportunities. We may have no desire to see
+these possibilities. We may turn from them now as we have before. They
+clearly exist, however, and chief among them is the possibility of a
+better human brain, a brain with much more ample power by means of
+which to create a better world.
+
+Many facts support this possibility. We know from certain evidence that
+man in his earliest period on earth possessed a brain much simpler than
+that responsible for his modern successes. Such testimony is given by
+the brain cast of the Java ape man. The entire cerebral structure in
+this instance was in an intermediate phase of human development. It was
+far in advance of the brain of the highest apes but much less developed
+than the brain of modern men. In spite of its simplicity it gives
+evidence of human progress. It had supplied the structural basis needed
+for a crude type of humanity. It indicates that the powers of human
+speech had been acquired and that the first steps in the upbuilding of
+human intelligence had been taken.
+
+Compared with this primitive race of extinct men, the Piltdown and
+Rhodesian brain casts bear signs of definite progress. With the passage
+of time brain power continued slowly to acquire new capacities.
+Nothing makes this conclusion more certain than the facts revealed by
+the Neanderthal casts. From them it is clear that the chief organ of
+life which directed the successes of the Neanderthal race had assumed
+many aspects of modern development. Most of this progress in the
+brain during its gradual stages upward, through the ape man, the Dawn
+man of Piltdown, the Rhodesian, and the Neanderthal, manifests its
+highest degree of expansion in the frontal lobe. With the coming of the
+Cromagnon race all of the cerebral requirements necessary to modern
+man made their appearance. Thus through more than a million years the
+brain has slowly improved. There has been a steady increase in the size
+and richness of its convolutions.
+
+In contrast with the lifetime of other families in the animal kingdom
+the human race has scarcely passed out of its early youth. Our race
+seems young as the ages of the earth are estimated, and our racial
+youth justifies the belief that the modern brain represents some
+intermediate phase of ultimate development. The facts of the distant
+past point ahead to periods of further progress in the future.
+Influences which have operated through vast intervals of time in slowly
+advancing the brain from one stage to the next are doubtless still at
+work. The impulses necessary to brain development had their beginning
+in the fishes. They continued through reptilian and mammalian phases
+and finally passed into the period of tree life wherein the foundations
+of the human brain were laid. It is difficult to believe that this
+impetus of progress which persisted for ages has at length ceased to
+act.
+
+The possibility of a better brain finds support in another fact of
+great interest. An entirely new force favourable to progressive
+development has made itself felt within the last century. Never before
+has it exerted an influence upon the process of evolution. At present
+it is difficult to estimate its full value as an element of progress.
+This new force arises from the fact that men and women throughout
+the world have recognized the existence of an evolutionary process.
+In all places where the earnest search for truth is being made this
+knowledge has become the dominant note. It cannot fail to lead to
+new understandings and to add new quota of power to the organ of our
+chief reliance. An adequate appreciation of the processes underlying
+natural selection is certain to impart new and practical significance
+to the survival of the fittest. The means which may subsequently be
+employed to further such survival cannot be predicted. Whatever they
+may be, if they justify themselves by advantageous results, they will
+be applied with courage and intelligence. They may embrace measures of
+extensive restriction and intensive selection to meet the conditions
+of overcrowding in population, and of inequality in the emoluments of
+life. The embarrassments of the laggard fractions of humanity would
+thus be overcome.
+
+Application of wise societal regulations having as their object the
+better apportionment of opportunity and the greater accessibility of
+human happiness might easily be conceived as the outgrowths of such
+further extensions in knowledge. Obviously the questions concerning the
+character of the means directed to these desirable ends cannot now be
+discussed or foreseen. It is sufficient to indicate that whatever these
+agencies may be, provided their results are calculated to contribute to
+the betterment of mankind, they may be discovered and made practical.
+This possibility presupposes the attainment of those advantages which
+accrue from a better understanding of man as a participant in a still
+active process of evolution.
+
+If up to this time we have employed the full power of our intelligence,
+if we have made the best use of the brain, there may be actual
+doubts concerning further progress. Many reasons justify the belief,
+however, that the human race has not yet utilized the brain to its
+fullest capacity. Numerous facts support this view and make it
+appear certain that we have developed but a small fraction of our
+potential brain power. In exceptional cases of outstanding groups and
+highly specialized individuals the brain may have yielded something
+approaching its best product. Even in cases of unusual development
+there are deficiencies and inequalities of development due to the
+circumstances of training, to the introduction of adverse influences,
+and to the universal lack of any generally acceptable goal of life.
+A cross section of any community estimated by its high and its low
+intellectual attainments indicates a striking unevenness in brain
+development. It also reveals a low rating in the average intellectual
+level. Averages of this kind obtained from nations or races disclose an
+aggregate of brain power far below the grade of the brain’s potential
+capacity. Instances of individual specializations make the fractional
+development of the race still more evident. If, for example, Laura
+Bridgman, deprived as she was of sight, hearing, taste, and smell, with
+only a fifth of her brain areas accessible to satisfactory contacts
+with the world, made an adjustment to life equal to the average of
+such adjustments; if Helen Keller, almost equally deprived of sensory
+impression, is rated by many as belonging to the class of genius; then
+the rank and file of mankind uses but a small fraction of its potential
+brain power. This fraction has been variously estimated at one fifth or
+one half. It seems obvious that great advantages for the extension of
+intelligence might arise from the utilization of the unemployed fifty
+to eighty per cent. of human power. The large portion of the brain not
+used by the majority of mankind introduces the disquieting thought
+that the usual way of life is the easiest way. The intelligent way is
+laborious and fraught with many trials incident to arduous application.
+Brain capacity may be improved only by patient and continuous effort
+and by an unremitting submission to diligent self-discipline. The
+avoidance of these exactions has made the development of the brain a
+slow process in man. It is the general disinclination to depart from
+the path of least effort which has held human intelligence at its
+average low levels. Many factors have contributed to this attitude.
+Not the least among them is what may be called mixed survival. This
+is a provision by which not only those thoroughly equipped but those
+as thoroughly unfit are presumed to enjoy equal opportunity in the
+advantages of life. The unfit depreciate the general average. Their
+inclusion creates the level of mediocrity and retards the progress of
+the fittest.
+
+Another fact affords hope for the further development of the unused
+fractions of human brain power. It is possible to demonstrate that
+certain structural and chemical elements in the brain develop in
+relation to the use made of them. This is particularly true of the
+insulating substance surrounding nerve fibres. Such fibres serve the
+purpose of impulse conduction. Simple and complex associations alike
+depend upon them. It has been shown that the simplest of these fibre
+connections come into use early in life while the most important
+connections appear at later periods. In order to be effective the
+connecting fibres must be insulated. The insulating material, a complex
+chemical substance, makes its appearance in direct relation to the
+different periods of mental development. This insulating substance is
+least in amount at birth. It increases noticeably at the end of the
+first year at about the time when speech is acquired. It shows marked
+additions at the seventh, tenth, and twentieth years. Thereafter
+it increases slowly up to the fortieth year. It also manifests the
+interesting phenomenon of gradual decrease in the declining years
+of the late decades of life. Apparently the mental development of
+different life periods requires differing degrees of insulation in the
+brain. The functional use of definite areas appears to bear a direct
+relation to the degree of insulation. The more areas in use, the more
+numerous are the insulated nerve fibres to facilitate proper operation.
+The child uses and needs less than the youth, and, in the general
+case, the youth less than the adult. The development of the brain thus
+appears to be proportional to the use made of it. In this way human
+intelligence may be gauged in terms of actual brain structure. In cases
+of low intelligence the demands have been relatively small, and large
+fractions of brain remain undeveloped because unused. Higher grades of
+intelligence require more extensive development because the objectives
+of their application are more complex and more exacting. They are the
+response to the more extensive utilization of brain power.
+
+The recognition of this relation between use and structural development
+of the brain clearly points the way by which human intelligence may
+be extended. This relation has long been understood as a biological
+principle. It has been practically applied in the training of
+muscular strength and endurance, in the sharpening of the senses,
+in the cultivation of the voice. Its practical application to the
+development of the brain as a whole has been much less assiduous. Both
+in principle and practice this relation of use to structure indicates
+possibilities for producing a better human brain. The unused fractions
+may accordingly find opportunity for utilization.
+
+Still another possibility for advancement arises from more adequate
+systems of human training. The success with which the brain is used
+depends in large part upon its conditioning. Such conditioning is
+determined by many factors. In the broadest sense it includes the
+influence of physical environment from the earliest moments of life,
+the effects of societal habits and ideals both in the family and in
+the group, the impress of formal education and educational forces, and
+the direction imparted by differing degrees of satisfaction, health,
+and disease. If, for example, the objective is accommodation to Arctic
+life, the conditioning process differs in many details from that
+necessary for adjustment to tropical existence. If the end sought is
+success according to European standards, a totally different set of
+conditionings is essential to this result. Civilized nations as well
+as barbarous tribes may be trained through generations to the pursuits
+and practices of warlike aggression. The results of such conditioning
+were clearly demonstrated in the Great War. Ultimate adjustments are
+thus strongly influenced by the group, the group outlook, the time,
+and the place. For this reason every experience in and every contact
+with existence assumes high value as a conditioning factor. The entire
+span of life, from birth to death, becomes a period of active training
+which may be consciously directed. The element of chief importance
+in this conscious control is the recognition of the end to which the
+training is directed. If the highest qualities of human happiness and
+satisfaction are the objectives, every factor which contributes to
+the conditioning must be carefully estimated and properly adjusted to
+this end. Such certainly is not the objective under the modern cult of
+success.
+
+The earth, which we have made a bone of contention, might, to our
+infinite advantage, become the sphere of human content. In order to
+determine such a change it is necessary to reëstimate and readjust
+every influence capable of conditioning the activities of the brain.
+The recognition of the uninterrupted continuity in the conditioning
+process and its specific requirements in relation to definite phases of
+development is most essential. Influences of the physical environment
+from the first moments after birth through all successive periods
+demand extensive, renewed attention. In the formation of habits and
+ideals, training in the home and in the group reaches down to the roots
+of societal life. These phases of brain conditioning are now largely
+matters of dogmatic tradition or confused instruction.
+
+Our present cult of success dominates formal education. The profound,
+far-reaching influence of this department of life is exerted through
+the most effective agencies for adjustment and readjustment. Education
+is charged with the responsibilities of devising the most beneficial
+methods for conditioning the brain. It participates in deciding to what
+ends such conditioning shall be directed and thus occupies a position
+of supreme control over human behaviour. Its supervision embraces and
+guides every period of life. Its disciplines have power to shape the
+character of human intelligence. Its inspirations are the hope of the
+future. Opportunities are even now at hand for it to overcome its
+traditional resistances and to open new fields for human satisfaction
+and contentment. Greater than the power of armies, more compelling than
+the military force of the entire globe, is the peaceful sway which
+education may exert in the satisfactory reshaping of existence.
+
+There should be added to these possibilities of future progress the
+fact that man, in spite of his blemishes, his delinquencies, and
+failures, is an aspiring and plastic animal. He is not unwilling to
+take the form of any mold in which he may be cast. He has been the
+victim of many prejudicial molds--clay in the hands of circumstance.
+Yet, whatever his form or deformities, he has always aspired to rise
+above himself. His aspirations have been sublimated in the heroes he
+has made to admire, in the gods he has selected for worship. Unlike
+all other animals, he has had the gift of idealization, the power of
+projecting far ahead of himself, beyond the limits of his recognized
+imperfections, the ideals of what he hoped or craved to be. Even his
+societal veneer, his morals, and his manners are products of his
+aspirations. His idealizations of existence in poetry and art show how
+tenaciously his vision has dwelt on higher things. Recognition of his
+own futilities has made him aspire to a future life of purification and
+redemption. Yet in this aspiring he manifests a lingering childhood,
+which reveals his still plastic state. The hereafter which he has
+designed for himself is based on an infantile system of rewards and
+penalties. This eventual refuge is an acquisitive immortality born of
+self-interest and bred in self-conceit. It bears the taint of ancient
+and sordid motives of the race. It has none of the altruism of that
+more noble and practical immortality through which earthly life strives
+unselfishly to leave a worthy influence for the benefit of those who
+later follow the path of human experience.
+
+In the light of his possibilities man’s further progress seems assured.
+Add to these possibilities his remarkable plasticity, his aspiring
+spirit, his youthful racial development, and it appears inconceivable
+that he should not advance. Science is constantly placing increased
+power at his command. While disclosing to him his place in nature, it
+is also revealing what still remains to be accomplished in the conquest
+of himself.
+
+Whatever fault may be found with the technique of human living,
+the major complaint is directed against the persistence of the old
+objectives. Ancient motives and standards are obstacles in the path
+of progress. A less complex life is needed--one with new incentives
+and different goals. Many are living and have lived this kind of
+life. One among these, the Great Galilean, has made it exemplary. As
+its influence comes down through the Christian centuries this life
+brings increasing conviction that it is the best yet lived. One third
+of the globe’s population professes to follow it. As followers they
+are frustrated in their purpose by the persistence of more ancient
+influences of the past. Yet it cannot be denied that any order of
+humanity higher than the present one requires extensive modifications
+in our purposes, our desires, our outlook on life, our manner of
+self-expression. A long step in this direction will be taken when the
+ancient password of the Old Stone Age--_get_, which for thousands of
+years has been the mainspring of existence, is gradually subordinated
+by the keynote of a New Golden Age--_give_. This solution of the
+problem is likely to seem utopian. Long ago we were admonished to
+try it. If we have failed we need not altogether despair. The human
+brain has overcome other difficulties to which it has been applied.
+With all of its possibilities for improvement, it may in time solve
+the supremely difficult problem of human nature. Success such as this
+depends upon the further development of science--especially that
+comprehensive science which will deal with all of the principles
+underlying the behaviour of man.
+
+In all respects it is a task of gigantic proportions to build the world
+anew--to readjust, to recivilize ourselves. At the same time it is the
+greatest adventure ever conceived by man--to construct his final empire
+of world coöperation wherein to know and to control himself. Should
+this be deemed worth while, it must be paid for by the intelligent,
+unremitting toil necessary to develop the full capacity of our chief
+reliance--the human brain.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
+
+
+Page 8: original spelling of “Poriphara” retained.
+
+Typos corrected: “in the dog.” to “in the dog,” (page 146); “pryamid”
+to “pyramid” (page 166); “preeminent” to “preëminent” (page 272);
+“sufficently” to “sufficiently” (page 316).
+
+Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been left unchanged.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78733 ***