THE HUMAN SKELETON. 43 
born in possession of the erect attitude. On the contrary, 
this attitude is acquired by man during his own lifetime by 
passing through a series of transitional stages from the 
horizontal to the quadrupedal (in which position the infant 
creeps), then to the oblique, and finally to the erect posture ; 
and that, coincidently with these transitions, the brain has 
undergone an increase in size, the spinal column has acquired 
its curves, and the hip-joint has become correspondingly 
modified. 
In conclusion the author said:—It seems to me that 
these simple facts throw much light on certain problems 
connected with the evolution of the human race. There is 
an accumulating amount of evidence in support of the 
theory that man has evolved from some lower type of 
animal. It is not a question of finding a “missing link” 
whose discovery would bridge the chasm between man and 
the highest ape, but rather the discovery of a common 
progenitor, since man and the ape are already situated at 
the extreme ends of two diverging lines, which may very 
well have started from a common point. Naturally, there- 
fore, all fossil remains which might possibly fill up the gap 
between man and this unknown progenitor are subjected to 
the closest and keenest scrutiny, and there are opposing 
theories regarding the nature of the facts which should be 
accepted as evidence in support of a gradual transition from 
an oblique attitude to the erect attitude characteristic of 
man, 
Some anthropologists maintain that, in the process of 
acquiring an erect attitude, the skeleton would first show 
man-like characters in the bones of the lower limbs, and 
that these changes would slowly work their way upwards 
until an animal would be evolved having the body of a man 
although still possessed of a head but a few degrees better 
than that of the ape. To my mind this view appears 
untenable. An animal having the skull of an ape, and 
therefore the brain and the intelligence of an ape, would be 
placed in most distressful circumstances in the struggle for 
existence by possessing the body of a man. Such a com- 
bination would place its possessor out of harmony with its 
environment and mode of life. Imagine an ape provided 
