November iSth, 1(^1 j;:\ PROCEEDINGS. ix 



while in certain respects they resemble modern man much more 

 closely than the Neanderthal group does, yet they are so definitely 

 much more primitive and so unmistakably Simian in the character 

 of the jaw and canine teeth that the distinction is amply justified. 

 Having said this, the position of Eoaiithropus in regard to the 

 ancestry of the genus Homo is patent, for it must represent a 

 persistent and very slightly modified descendant of the com- 

 mon ancestor of Homo sapiens and Homo primigenitis. 



The author argued that there is no positive evidence lo 

 show that the genus Homo, or even Ecanthropiis, had come into 

 existence in Pliocene times. 



The fact of Eoanthfopus Dawsoni being found in a deposit 

 that may perhaps be as late as the Mid-Pleistocene does not 

 invalidate the conclusion that the genus to which it belonged 

 was ancestral to the Heidelberg man. It was shown by analogy 

 with the histories of other phyla (such as the Titanotheres, 

 studied by Osborn) that the occurrence of large eyebrow-ridges 

 in Homo pyiinigeiiius is no valid objection to the acceptance of 

 this view. 



When man was first evolved the pace of evolution must 

 have been phenomenally rapid, by reason of the rapid weeding- 

 out of those who were not fleet of foot and nimble-witted to 

 meet the dangerous new conditions. Thus in view of the fact 

 that no human remains or undoubted evidence of human 

 workmanship are known earlier than the Pleistocene, it is quite 

 possible that amidst the turmoil incidental to the inauguration 

 of the Pleistocene Period a group of anthropoids rose superior 

 to the difficulties of new circumstances and became " Dawn- 

 men." 



It is impossible to give a definite opinion as to whether the 

 Piltdown individual possessed the power of articulate speech, 

 but it is almost certain that man began to speak when his jaw 

 was in the stage represented in that of Eoanthropus. The brain 

 of the creature can be called human, and already shows con- 

 siderable development of the parts which in modern man we 

 associate with the power of speech. 



