458 THE ASCENT OF MAN. 



(leatbs in child-birth arc much more common in the higher races and 

 that woman in her entire organization shows signs of having suffered 

 more than man in the upward struggle. 



In no other animal is there shown such a distinction between the 

 pelvis of the male and that of the female, a distinction that increases 

 as we ascend the scale. While the amount of individual variation is 

 great, we yet see, particularly in the pelvis of the Andaman Islanders 

 and of the Polynesian races, distinctly simian characters. The scanty 

 material at hand indicates that a similar transition occurred between 

 the modern and prehistoric types. The approximation of the infantile 

 and simian forms is well known. 



The pelvis alone does not suffice to support the viscera. In quad- 

 rupeds the whole weight is slung from the horizontal spine by means 

 of a strong elastic suspensory bandage of fascia, the tunica abdominalis. 

 The part of this near the thorax has in man entirely disappeared, being 

 no longer of any use. In the groin it remains to strengthen the weak 

 points where structures pass out from the abdominal cavity. That it 

 often is insufficient to withstand the great pressure is testified by the 

 great prevalence of hernia, another sign of imperfect adaptation. The 

 frequency of uterine displacements, almost unknown in the quadruped, 

 has also been noted. It is significant that one of the most effective 

 postures for treating and restoring to place the disturbed organ is the 

 so-called " knee-elbow position," decidedly quadrupedal in ciiaracter. 



Many other indications are found in the viscera. The urinary bladder 

 is so arranged in man, that any concretions that may occur, do not gather 

 near the opening of the urethra, where they might be discharged, but fall 

 back into the cul de-sac at the base, where they enlarge and irritate the 

 mucous lining.* The caecum, with its vermiform appendage, a vestigial 

 organ finding its proper functional activity far below man, is so placed 

 in quadrupeds that the action of gravity tends to free it from faical accu- 

 mulations. In man this is not the case, and as a consequence inflam- 

 mation of this organ or its surrounding tissues, verj' serious and often 

 fatal, is by no means rare. It may be noted that the ascending colon 

 is obliged to lift its contents against gravity, and that in a lowered state 

 of the system this might very readily induce torpidity of function. 



The gall bladder in quadrupeds also discharges at an advantageous 

 angle. In man, although the difference is slight, it appears to be suffi- 



* Since the above was written, my attention has been called to the followino' re- 

 markable passage in the works of Dr. Erasmus Darwin. It occnrs in bis " Temple 

 of Nature," Canto ii, foot-note to line 122. 



" It has been supposed by some that mankind were formerly quadrupeds as well as 

 hermaphrodites ; and that some parts of the body aie not yet so convenient to an 

 erect posture as to a horizontal one : as the fundus of the bladder in an erect posture 

 is not exactly over the insertion of the nrethea ; whence it is seldom completely 

 evacuated, and thus renders mankind more subject to the stone than if he had pre- 

 served his horizontality." (The preface to this poem is dated January 1, 1802.) 



