The most ancient skeletal remains of man / by A. Hrdlička.

  • Hrdlička, Aleš, 1869-1943.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The most ancient skeletal remains of man / by A. Hrdlička. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    it has not been washed or rolled about to any great extent; but the cap showed the effects of erosion, probably caused by acidulous water seeping through the deposits. All indications and a detailed study of the specimens led Dubois to the conclusions that: (1) The four skeletal pieces in question were contemporaneous; (2) they were of the age of the stratum in which found; (3) they belonged to one skeleton; and (4) they represent a transitional form of beings between the anthropoid apes and man, belonging to the direct line in the genealogy of the latter. The first published announcement of the discovery by Dubois ap- peared in 1894 to-day the subject possesses already a relatively large literature of its own.^ A special expedition of two years’ dura- tion has also since worked on the site of the discovery,® and the remains are regarded universally as of the greatest scientific value; but the final word concerning their exact age and true biological position has not yet been pronounced. It should be stated at once that there is no room for doubt as to the place of discovery of the several bones and their geological or paleontological relations. The several pieces were found in situ, in the progress of scientific exploration, by a careful and competent observer. But the precise age of the stratum in which they lay, and their exact biological position among related forms, are not yet ab- solutely delimited. V^ile Dubois and other scientific men regard the Pithecanthropus remains as all belonging to the same skeleton, as dating chronologically from the latest part of the Tertiary or the earliest phase of the Quaternary period, and as representing a true intermediary form between the anthropoid apes and man, others have expressed doubts as to whether the four bones belong to the 1 Pithecanthropus erectus. Eine menschenahnllche Uebergangsform aus Java. Von Eug. Dubois, Milithrarzt der Niederlhndlschen Armee. Mitt zwel Tafeln und drei in den Text gedruckten Figuren., 4®, Batavia, 1894. * Pew of the more important English contributions to the subject are: Marsh, 0. C. On the Pithecanthropus erectus Dubois, from Java. (Amer. Journ. Scl., Feb. 1895.) On the Pithecanthropus erectus, from the Tertiary of Java. (Ibid., 4th ser., vol. 1. 1896, pp. 475-482.) Turner, William. On M. Dubois’s description of remains recently found in Java, named by him Pithecanthropus erectus, with remarks on the so-called transitional forms between Apes and Man. (Journ. Anat. and Physiol., vol. 29, 1895, pp. 424-445.) Dubois, E. On Pithecanthropus erectus: a transitional form between man and the apes. (Journ. Anthrop. Instit. Great Britain and Ireland, Feb. 1896, pp. 240-265; Trans. Royal Dublin Soc., ser. 2, vol. 6, Dublin, 1898, pp. 1-18; Smithsonian Report for 1898 (Washington, 1899), pp. 446-459.) Manouvrler, D. On Pithecanthropus erectus. Transl. by G. G. MacCurdy. (Amer. Journ. Sci., 4th ser., vol. 4, Sept. 1897, pp. 213-234.) Hepburn, David. The Trinll femur (Pithecanthropus erectus) contrasted with the femora of various savage and civilized races. (Rep. 66th meeting Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci 1897, pp. 926-927.) For literature in other languages see especially G. Schwalbe, Studlen 6. Pithecanthropus erectus Dubois. (Zeltschr. f. Morphologic und Anthropologic, Bd. 1, Stuttgart. 1890 on 1-240, bibliogr. 234-240.) ’ Under Mme. Selenka; see “ Die Plthecanthropus-Schichten auf Java, by Mme. Lenore Selenka and M. Blankenhorn, 4®, Leipzig, 1911. 44863°—SM 1913 32