294 



ANATOMY OF VERTEBRATES. 



the erect position. 



183 



Bimanous skeleton (.Homo). 



The widely-separated shoulders, with broad 

 scapula and complete 

 clavicles, 58, give a fa- 

 vourable position to the 

 upper limbs, now libera- 

 ted from the service of 

 locomotion, with complex 

 joints for rotatory as well 

 as flexile movements, and 

 terminated by a hand of 

 matchless perfection of 

 structure the fit instru- 

 ment for executing the 

 behests of a rational intel- 

 ligence and a free will. 

 Hereby, though naked, 

 Man can clothe himself, 

 and rival all native vest- 

 ments in warmth and 

 beauty ; though defence- 

 less, Man can arm him- 

 self with every variety of 

 weapon, and become the 

 most terribly destructive 

 of animals. Thus he ful- 

 fils his destiny as the 

 master of this earth, and 

 of the lower Creation. 



The system of Cuvier 

 beino^ still in use in some 

 estimable works, and the 

 one according to which 

 groups of Mammals are 

 most commonly referred 

 to in physiological and 

 paleontological proposi- 

 tions, an outline thereof, 

 as applied to that class, 

 is here appended, with 

 a similar outline of the 

 classification adopted in 

 the present work. 



