82 



Darwin, and after Darivin. 



and no cry uttered, until the grasp begins to give 

 way." 



(5) Tail. — The absence of a tail in man is popularly 

 supposed to constitute a difficulty against the doctrine 

 of his quadrumanous descent. As a matter of fact, 

 however, the absence of an external tail in man is 



MAN 



Gorilla 



Fig. 15. — Sacrum of Gorilla compared with that of Man, showing the 

 rudimentary tail- bones of each. Drawn from nature (A'. Coll. Surg. 

 Mus). 



precisely what this doctrine would expect, seeing that 

 the nearest allies of man in the quadrumanous series 

 are likewise destitute of an external tail. Far, then, 

 from this deficiency in man constituting any difficulty 

 to be accounted for, if the case were not so — i.e. if man 

 did possess an external tail, — the difficulty would be 



