454 THE ASCENT OF MAN. 



Jiij)itor pne (o man an nplifted countonancc, and (»i(lero<l liini to look 

 Leavenwaid ami hold liis lace erect towards the stars. 



" Pronaiiiio cum spectent animalia cetera terrain, 

 <)s lioiniiii Kublimo (l«»ilit, cti'lumquo tneri 

 Jiissit, et erectos ail sidora tollere viiltiis.'"* 



Ovid, Metamorphoses : I, 84-80. 



The erect position is liowever gradnally acquired. As in tlie sphinx's 

 riddle, we literally go on all fours in the morning of life, and the dilU- 

 cnlty that an infant experiences in learning to walk is strong evi- 

 dence that this is an accomplishment acquired by the race late in its 

 history. We ought (if this is the case) to find in the human body indi- 

 cations of a previous semi-erect posture. There is a vast amount of evi- 

 dence of this character, and I can only sketch the outlines of it. 



The erect position in standing is secured by the shape of the foot, by 

 the attachment of strong muscles at points of severest strain, and by 

 the configuration of the great joints which permits them to be held 

 locked when a standing posture is assumed. All these features are 

 liable to great variation ; they are less marked in children and in the 

 lower races. Let us examine them somewhat more carefully. 



The Caucasian type of foot is evidently that best adapted for the 

 erect position. The great too is larger, stronger, and longer than the 

 others, making a firm support for the inner anterior pier of the arch 

 formed by the bones — an arch completed by a well-developed heel and 

 maintained by a strong, dense baud of fascia and ligament binding the 

 piers together like the tie-rod of a bowstring truss — thus producing a 

 light and elastic structure admirably adapted to support the weight of 

 the body and diminish the effect of shocks. In the lower races of man 

 all these characters are less marked. The great toe is shorter and 

 smaller, the heel-boneless strongly made, the arch much flatter. This 

 flattening of the arch i)roduces the projection of the heel found in some 

 races. 



The muscles required for maintaining the erect position are those 

 which from our predilection for human anatomy we are apt to call the 

 great extensors, overlooking the fact that in other animals they are by 

 no means as well developed as in man. Being required at the points of 

 greatest strain, all are situated on the posterior aspect of the body— 

 the calf, the buttock, and the back. 



A very slight examination of any lower animal will show how strik- 

 ingly it differs in the muscular development of these regions. The 



Compare Milton : 



"A creature wlio not prone 

 And brute as other creatures, but endued 

 With sanctity of reason, might erect 

 His stature, and upright with front serene 

 Govern the rest, self-knowing." 



Paradise Lost: III, r.UG-f.lO. 



