190 MAMMALIAN DESCENT. [Lect. YIII. 



imclianged descendants of any type from ^^'llicll the 

 Primates spi-ang ; yet the hitter, higher, forms may 

 have arisen from ohl and more generalised Lemuroids. 

 It is just j)ossible that the peculiar isomorphism, or 

 similarity in outer form, of these types with the 

 Monkeys ma}' have deceived us, and have suggested 

 a nearer relationshi]^ than really exists. That that modi- 

 fication of the inner digit on Loth the mamis and ^^c^s, 

 hand and foot, which makes tliese organs capaljle of 

 grasping, should be seen in Loth Monkeys and Lemurs, 

 is a strong suggestion of affinity, and yet may not Le 

 due to any near relationship. I am inclined to put the 

 two groups nearer together than Professor Flower would ; 

 Lut, as I have only lately l^egun to work at the Lemurs, 

 I am rather douLtful and cautious. Yet the skull and 

 teeth, as well as the hands and feet, are very similar in 

 Loth cases, and I feel satisfied that the Primates did 

 arise from archaic Lemuroids. The fact that the 

 Lemuroid types found in the Tertiary de})0sits are un- 

 distino'uishaLle from Carnivores, on the one hand, and 

 from the most archaic Herl)ivora, on the other, sh()^\^s 

 how difficult classification Lecomes, when we pass 

 into pala3ontology. These proLlems ask for liel]) from 

 eniLryology ; the early conditions of the groups already 

 Lrought under review, also those of the Lemuroids, as 

 well as the Tapir and the II}'rax, the most generalised 

 types of existing Her])ivora, will throw new light U23on 

 tliis cpiestion. I hope to do something towards this 



