i899 S. S. BUCKMAN— HUMAN BABIES II5 



But as to Homo alalus I feel doubtful ; that is to say, 

 whether he was alalus strictly. I should imagine that 

 he had a language, primitive enough perhaps, one of, 

 say, 100 words at most, with of course no distinction as 

 to parts of speech. But this would be a language ; and 

 by it, with gesture and intonation, primitive Man could 

 let his fellow know very well what he wanted. 



Anyone who has conversed with a young baby will 

 know that with half-a-dozen monosyllabic sounds it can 

 give a fair account of what is going on around. This has 

 to be remembered, that the baby is perfectly understood 

 by the young children who are its associates ; it is better 

 understood by them than by its parents ; and far better 

 understood by its parents than by strangers. 



VII. Conclusion 



I may bring this paper to a close v^'ith quotations from 

 two of the great masters. 



" Is Man something apart ? Does he originate in a 

 totally different way from Dog, Bird, Frog, and Fish ? 

 Or does he originate in a similar germ, pass through the 

 same slow and gradually progressive modifications, — 

 depend on the same contrivances for protection and 

 nutrition, and finally enter the world by the help of the 

 same mechanism ? The reply is not doubtful for a 

 moment. Without question the mode of origin and the 

 early stages of the development of Man are identical with 

 those of the animals immediately below him in the scale " 

 (Huxley, 1863). 



" * Know thyself ! ' That is the source of all wisdom ! 

 But for Man to have real self-knowledge it is of the first 

 importance that he know his own development " (Haeckel, 

 1891). 



