74o 



PRIMA TES 



to allow other considerations to influence the judgment as to the 

 particular position he should occupy in the class, is most illogical. 



Man, therefore, considered from a zoological point of view, must 

 be included in the order Primates, even if the Lemurs be removed 

 from it, since his structural affinities with the Monkeys are far 

 closer than are those of the so-called "Half- Apes." We may, without 

 treading upon debatable ground, go farther, and say that the 

 differences between Man and the Anthropoid Apes are really not 

 so marked as those which separate the latter from the American 

 Monkeys. This being admitted, perhaps the best exposition relating 

 to the present condition of the order will be to regard Man as 

 representing a fifth family of the Anthropoidea, which should be 

 known as the Hominkkr, In thus ranking Man as one of the five 

 principal families or sections of the suborder it should, however, be 

 observed that this course does not in the least degree imply that 

 such families are precisely equivalent to one another, or that the 

 intervals by which they are separated are of equal importance ; all 

 that we commit ourselves to being that they are five perfectly 

 distinct groups, all branches from a common stem, and in the 

 present state of nature not united by any intermediate types. 



The distinctions between the Hominidce and Simiidce are chiefly 

 relative, being greater size of brain and of brain-case as compared 

 with the facial portion of the skull, smaller development of the 

 canine teeth of the males, complete adaptation of the structure of the 

 vertebral column to the vertical position, greater length of the lower 

 as compared with the upper extremities, and greater length of the 

 hallux or great toe, with almost complete absence of the power of 

 bringing it in opposition to the other four toes. The last feature 

 together with the small size of the canine teeth are perhaps the 

 most marked and easily defined distinctions that can be drawn 

 between the two groups. 



Man is universally admitted to form a single genus, Homo of 

 Linnaeus, but a question of considerable importance in treating of 

 him from a zoological point of view, and one which has been a sub- 

 ject of much controversy, is whether all men should be considered 

 as belonging to a single or to several species. This question is 

 perhaps of less importance now than formerly, when those who 

 maintained a plurality of species associated with the hypothesis 

 plurality of origin. One of the strongest arguments against the 

 view that the various races of Man represent more than one species 

 is that none of those who have maintained it have been able to 

 agree as to how many distinct specific modifications can be defined, 

 almost every number from three to twenty or more having been 

 advocated by different authors. If the distinguishing characters of 

 the so-called species had been so marked, there could not be such a 

 remarkable diversity of opinion upon them. Again, the two facts 



