i899 S. S. BUCKMAN — HUMAN BABIES 93 



II. Characters 



a. Quadrupedal Progression 



It is unusual for the babies of civilized races to adopt 

 a truly quadrupedal method of progression. Their method 

 of movement is fittingly called crawling, because they 

 progress on hands and knees. Or, in other cases, sitting 

 on the buttocks, they progress in a spasmodic manner by 

 putting one hand to the ground and then dragging the 

 body up to it. 



The human baby, as the descendant of four-footed 

 animals, should be able to progress on its four limbs 

 directly it is born. That it does not do so is the result of 

 excessive maternal solicitude for a great number of genera- 

 tions, so that it has been unnecessary for the young human 

 being to develop its powers of progression as early as it 

 should do. The more the mother protects her offspring, 

 the more helpless does the offspring become in successive 

 generations, development being retarded (see p. 116). 

 Other examples of this state of affairs can be observed in 

 the animal kingdom. The human mother reHeves her 

 offspring of the necessity of locomotion by carrying it 

 about. The more civilized the race the greater will be the 

 relief given. Rarely, therefore, among civilized races does 

 the child progress in a truly quadrupedal fashion ; yet, as 

 would naturally be expected, among some uncivilized races 

 such progression is almost the rule. 



Fig. I, PI. I., shews the only one of my children 

 which progressed in a quadrupedal fashion. It may be 

 noted that it is a truly plantigrade progression with diagonal 

 movement of the limbs. 



Another photograph was taken at the same time. A 

 block made from it appeared in "Nature,"* with some 

 notes by myself relative to some remarks concerning 



* Vol. 51, November 4th, 1894. 



