Darwinism and the evolution of man / by H.C. March.

  • March, Henry Colley.
Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Darwinism and the evolution of man / by H.C. March. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    are sometimes wanting in the human subject. On the other hand, the apes possess four muscles (levator claviculcr, dorso-epitrochlearis, scansorius, et abductor ossis metacarpi quinti digiti) all used in climbing, which are not usually found in man, though they all do occur as varieties. In addition it may be noticed that several muscles (as supple- mentary muscular bundles in the biceps of negroes) frequently wanting in white men are nearly always to be found in persons of coloured races ; and that, whereas it is the rule in the Gorilla to have thirteen pairs of ribs, in certain negroid tribes thirteen pairs of ribs are sometimes present, and occasionally there is a sixth lumbar vertebra. As regards the brain, all the convolutions found in man are represented in the cerebral hemispheres of the Chimpanzee. A child's brain is especially ape-like; its furrows are shallow, symmetrical, and few. With advancing years they increase in number, depth, and complexity ; and this increase is most marked in persons of the greatest mental activity. It should also be observed that, relatively to their dimensions, fossil birds and mammals have smaller brain-cases than their modern representatives ; a fact which suggests the inference that intelligence has undergone a progressive evolution till it has reached, in the massive cerebrum of a man, the faculty of speech, and the power of transmitting accumulated knowledge by per- manent symbols. Volume of Brain. Ourang and Chimpanzee 26 c.i. Gorilla 35 c.i. Papuan, smallest human 55 c.i. Negro 82 c.i. Average European 94 c.i. Largest European 115 c.i. In what relation do we stand to the apes ? We have seen that the human ear is a rudiment, and that the hair of man and of the higher apes is directed towards the elbow and from the knee. But in monkeys the ear is in a still more shrivelled and rudimentary condition, and the hair of the limbs is directed uniformly towards the digits. These are facts which show, not that we have descended from them, but that they branched off from our Parent stock at some very remote period. Indeed, Prof. Huxley remarks that whatever part of the animal fabric, bones, muscles, or viscera, be selected for comparison, the lower apes and the Gorilla are found to differ more than the Gorilla and the Man. What were our immediate prehuman ancestors ?