Chap. VI. J AFFINITIES AND GENEALOGY. 191 



common to the Catarhine and Platyrhine monkeys, and 

 others in an intermediate condition, and some few perhaps 

 distinct from those now present in either group, would 

 undoubtedly have been ranked, if seen by a naturalist, as 

 an ape or monkey. And as man under a genealogical 

 point of view belongs to the Catarhine or Old World 

 stock, we must conclude, however much the conclusion 

 may revolt our pride, that our early progenitors would 

 have been properly thus designated. 16 But we must not 

 fall into the error of supposing that the early progenitor of 

 the whole Simian stock, including man, was identical with, 

 or even closely resembled, any existing ape or monkey. 



On the Birthplace and Antiquity of .Man. — We are 

 naturally led to inquire where was the birthplace of man 

 at that stage of descent when our progenitors diverged 

 from the Catarhine stock. The fact that they belonged 

 to this stock clearly shows that they inhabited the Old 

 World ; but not Australia nor any oceanic island, as we 

 may infer from the laws of geographical distribution. In 

 each great region of the world the living mammals are 

 closely related to the extinct species of the same region. 

 It is therefore probable that Africa was formerly inhab- 

 ited by extinct apes closely allied to the gorilla and chim- 

 panzee ; and as these two species are now man's nearest 

 allies, it is somewhat more probable that our early pro- 

 genitors lived on the African Continent than elsewhere. 

 But it is useless to speculate on this subject, for an ape 

 nearly as large as a man, namely, the Dryopithecus of 

 Lartet, which was closely allied to the anthropomorphous 



15 Hiickel has come to this same conclusion. See ' Ueber die Ent- 

 Btehung des Menschengeschlechts,' in Virchow's ' Sammlung. gemein. 

 wissen. Vortrage,' 1868, s. 61. Also his 'Natiirliche Schopfungs- 

 geschichte,' 1868, in which he gives in detail his views on the genealogy 

 of man. 



