iv. COUSIN SARAH. 65 



learn more rapidly than the children of intelligent white 

 folk for a while. But there comes a time when they 

 cease to progress thus rapidly, and the white boy shoots 

 ahead. So too does the little chimpanzee seem almost 

 as intelligent as a child. But very soon the human child 

 shoots ahead, and the "young monkey," as we call him, 

 becomes a respectable and responsible member of society. 

 As he grows, the man within him develops year by year : 

 and similarly the ape in the chimpanzee or gorilla de- 

 velops with its advancing years. Starting within an 

 almost measurable distance from one another, the ape 

 and man rapidly diverge, until the chasm between them 

 becomes immense. 



Not only of character is this true ; to a certain degree it 

 is true also of organization and structure. The baby ape is 

 much more like a human child than an old gorilla with its 

 enormous brow-ridges, or orang-utan with its great cheek- 

 pads, is like a man. The development of the savage 

 brute-nature is accompanied (there is a moral lurking 

 hereabouts) by the development of a fierce and savage 

 aspect. Even Sally is not so human-looking as she was 

 some years ago. (Not that I would hint, Miss Calva, at 

 any falling-off in good looks. I merely mean that your 

 beauty is developing along its own special lines.) But 

 whereas the character-chasm becomes well-nigh infinite, 

 the structure-chasm, in essential points, does not widen to 

 anything like the same extent. 



The favourite distinction between man and beast, the 

 presence or absence of a tail, scarcely holds good in the case 

 of the anthropoid apes at all. Sally has no more tail than 

 I have. But if you will watch Sally you will find that she 

 cannot assume a truly erect position. And this holds 

 good of all the man-like apes. They cannot stand upright. 

 A gorilla can balance himself for a time on his hind-legs ; 



F 



