294 THE MAMMALIA. 



genera, Vesi^ertilio and Rhinolophus, were contem- 

 poraries of the PalseotheridaB and the Cynodictis of 

 South-western France. As regards their origin we 

 can only confess our ignorance on the subject, even 

 though we can perfectly well imagine the transfor- 

 mation of a climbing insect-eater into a flying one. 

 The elongation of the fingers of the fore limb, and 

 the expansion of the flying membrane to the hind 

 limbs, took place in those early periods from which, 

 as far as our knowledge of the Mammalia is con- 

 cerned, only a few dim rays of light have found 

 their way to us. 



11. THE PROSIMIJE, SEMI- APES. SIMI^, APES. 



THE MAN OF THE FUTURE. 



The opinion of zoologists of the Linnaean school, 

 and those belonging to the first half of our century, 

 that the whole class of Semi- apes were, in fact, half 

 apes has generally been abandoned ; the opinion 

 was based upon the occurrence of hands on the fore 

 and hind limbs, upon the formation of the face, and 

 upon the peculiar dentition, which in most cases 

 shows no gaps. The more recent theory does not ex- 

 clude the supposition that among the very differently 

 formed genera of so-called Semi-apes, one or other 

 species might claim a closer relationship with the 



