312 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERT. 



It is a common observation that the largest mammals are the 

 longest lived ; it would be more true to sa}^ that normal longevity 

 apparently increases in direct ratio with the absolute volume of 

 the brain. The elephant, which lives 150 years, has a larger brain 

 than any other land mammal ; next to the elephant would come 

 man, who, by the absolute size of his brain and by his longevit3% 

 is superior to other terrestrial mammals, many of which are of 

 hiuch larger dimensions than the human race. 



From facts like these, it appears that, in certain divisions of the 

 mammalia, there has been, since their first appearance on the 

 globe, a gradual increase of vital energy and intelligence ; in 

 other words, the duration of life and the development of the intel- 

 lectual faculties were less in early tertiary epochs than at the 

 present time. The organic difterenccs above alluded to, which 

 diminish in geological succession as we approach the present era, 

 have not arisen from any transformation of generic t^^pes, but 

 Bolely from the effect of the tendency of animated nature toward 

 a perfection whose cause is ever acting and whose limits are un- 

 bounded. 



ON THE PEDIGREE OF MANKIND. 



According to Dr. Haeckel, the line in which man's development 

 from the lower animals took place commenced with amphioxus, 

 and proceeded through the lampreys and the extinct allies of the 

 sharks to the lepidosirens, thence through proteus and its con- 

 geners to the tritons and salamanders, and thus to the monotre- 

 mata (ornithorhynchus). >.It tlien passes through the marsupials, 

 the lemurs, the Old-World monkeys (semnopitliecus, etc.), and the 

 anthropoid apes (orang, gorilla, etc.). 



All the existing varieties of man he regards as having come 

 from one stock, which he considers to be now extinct. He also 

 believes that the various races have the same value in natural 

 history as species, and he describes them as such. They are the 

 following : — 



I. Homines ulotriclii: men M'ith woolly hair and long heads. 



1. Homo primigenius. Ape-like men, now extinct. 



2. H. papua. Papuan species. 



3. E. hoUentottiis . South African species. 



4. H. afer. Central African species. 



II. Homines lissotrichi : men with smooth hair ; heads long, 



short, and of medium proportions. 



5. Homo alfurus. New Holland species. 



6. H. pohjnesius. Malayan species. 



7. H. arcticus. Polar species. y 



8. H. mongolicus. Yellow species. * 



9. H. americanus. Red species. 

 10. H. caucasicus. White species. 



Admitting that it is sometimes difficult to draw the line between 

 these groups, he observes that the same difficulty exists in treating 

 of species of other groups of the animal world. — Quart. Joum. 

 of Science, OctoheVy 1868. 



