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CHAPTER III 

 MAN AND THE APES 



UNDENIABLE IS thc fact that man and the man- 

 like apes — the chimpanzees, the gorillas, the 

 orangs and the gibbons — show numerous points 

 of similarity. Man is obviously much more nearly 

 like these apes than he is like any other living crea- 

 tures. Yet equally undeniable is the fact that the 

 differences between man and the apes are significant 

 and striking. 



The most interesting and the most significant of the 

 differences between the apes and man are connected 

 with their very early life. 



Although they develop very slowly, none of the 

 apes or monkeys have a true baby stage except of 

 relatively brief duration. Their young very soon 

 acquire what might be called a subadult mentality. 

 Early in life the actions of young apes and monkeys 

 begin to resemble more or less closely the actions of 

 their parents — or perhaps it should be said recall the 

 actions of their parents. This is not at all the case 

 with human children in the normal human family, 

 though neglected or abandoned children rather 

 quickly leave behind them the typical child stage. 



All human children have one marked peculiarity 

 which seems to be confined to them. When babies 

 first begin to touch and to hold objects they seem to 

 show an extraordinary preference for hard, and espe- 



