"MISSING LINKS" MILLER 425 



subgenus, Ilexaprotodon, as the forms from the Siwalik and Narbada strata 

 of western India. Upon the evidence of these remains I determined that tlie 

 four skeletal fragments were of exactly the same age, and very probably 

 early Pliocene. 



The first description of the Java man was published in a pamphlet 

 issued at Batavia, Java, in 1894. Throughout the scientific world 

 it was immediately read and commented on with intense interest by 

 zoologists and anthropologists alike. But the fact soon became ap- 

 parent that the only point of universal agreement among these read- 

 ers was their interest; their opinions differed to an astonishing de- 

 gree. Some accepted the belief of Dubois that the remains came 

 fi'om one individual; others regarded the circumstances of the dis- 

 covery as giving no support to it. About the skullcap some agreed 

 with Dubois that it clearly represented a transition stage between 

 ape and man; others pronounced it human, and still others were as 

 fully convinced that it was simian. In April, 1896, Dubois gave a 

 summary of the opinions of 19 writers : 5 regarded the skullcap as 

 simian, 7 as human, and 7 as intermediate. Theii' names are of 

 enough interest to be reproduced here. 



The controversy which thus began has not yet ended. So many 

 writers have taken part in it that I shall make no attempt to list 

 them all or to give their views in detail. A summary will suffice. But 

 before presenting this summary, and as the best means for enabling 

 the readei' to understand the violently conflicting opinions which he 

 will find in it, I shall quote rather extensively from the chapter en- 

 titled " Pithecanthropus — The Ape Man " in Prof. Marcellin Boule's 

 Fossil Men (translated by J. E. and J. Eitchie from the second 

 French edition, 1923). 



If we possessed only the skull and the teeth, we should say that we were 

 dealing with a large ape ; if we had only the femur, we should declare we were 

 dealing with a man. 



A first and important question thus arises : Did the skullcap, the teeth, and 

 the femur, found separately and at more or less considerable intervals of time 

 and distance, belong to the same being? Dubois considered himself justified in 

 asserting that they did, because no remains of large primates have ever been 

 found in Java except in tliis spot at Trinil, and the simultaneous presence of 

 several species appears very improbable. Further, the various bones were scat- 

 tered at quite inconsiderable distances from one another. These are certainly 

 good arguments, but they are not conclusive. Some doubt remains, and will 



