488 ELEMENTARY BIOLOGY 



This order consists of the following families : 



1. Lemuroidea. Small, squirrel-like animals living in trees and bushes. 



The lemurs are found in Madagascar, the marmosets in South 

 America. 



2. Cebidas. The New World monkeys. Nearly all have long, grasping 



tails and flat noses. Smaller than the Old World monkeys. 

 {Examples. Howling monkey, spider monkey, capuchin.) 



3. Cercopithecidae. The Old World monkeys. Tail not grasping, or 



short; nostrils pointing downward. Distinct, opposable thumb. 

 {Examples. Baboons, mandrill, macacus, Indian ape.) 



4. Simiidae. The anthropoid (manlike) apes. No distinct tail ; arms 



longer than legs. {Examples. Gibbons, orang-utans, chimpan- 

 zees, and gorillas.) 



5. Hominidae. The human race. 



508. Varieties of the human race. The so-called races of 

 mankind have from earliest times puzzled the thoughtful. On 

 the one hand, the most diverse of peoples are still so much 

 alike as to leave no doubt as to their being human beings. On 

 the other hand, the variations in skin color, in hair characters, 

 in eyes, in shape of head, in form of eyelids, in stature, and in 

 other physical characters are so great as to exceed by far the 

 ranges of " individual variation " found in most other species. 

 In mental characters also, in the rate of development, and in 

 chemical characters (as shown, for example, by distinctive odors 

 of perspiration and by specific immunities to diseases) the races 

 differ in many striking ways. Nevertheless, by every test that 

 zoologists apply, all belong to the same species. 



Attempts to classify the species Homo sapiens range from 

 three main groups proposed by Linnaeus (White, Yellow, Black) 

 to as many as fourteen or sixteen offered by other students. The 

 most common division recognizes five main races, as follows : 



I. The Caucasian, or white-skinned, or Eiaropean, races and tribes : 

 hair from pale yellow to black ; eyes from blue to brown ; wide varia- 

 tion in stature and in form of features. This is to-day, and has been 

 throughout historic times, the most aggressive and masterful branch 

 of the human family. 



