CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 9 



chimpanzee and the large ears of the latter make them rather less 

 human. 



The parental stages of man and the great apes are still more alike 

 than are the young creatures. The text -figures of the young 

 gorilla (Fig. 3), taken from a specimen of an unborn ape obtained 

 by Monsieur J. Deniker, and of a human being of about the same 

 age, after a figure given by Professor Metchnikoff (Fig. 4), show the 

 almost appalling resemblance between man and the ape before birth. 



FIG. 4. Head of a human foetus, about 

 five months old. (After "E. METCHNIKOFF.) 



FIG. 5. Head of an unborn long- 

 nosed ape. (After E. SELENKA.) 



For comparison, I have given in another figure (Fig. 5) a representa- 

 tion of a corresponding stage in the development of one of the lower 

 monkeys, the long-nosed ape of Borneo, taken from a drawing given 

 by Professor Selenka in his great monograph on the embryology of 

 mammals. The face and features, the domed forehead covering the 

 capacious brain, the practical absence of hair, and every minute 

 detail of the internal and external structure agree with a fidelity that 

 is almost shocking. Professor Metchnikoff was so impressed by 

 such resemblances that he has suggested that the human race may 

 have taken its origin from the precocious birth of an ape. His 

 theory may be regarded rather as a parable than a definite scientific 

 proposition, but it puts in a striking fashion a remarkable character 

 displayed by young animals. When these differ from the adults, 

 it is not merely that they resemble their ancestors, or are specially 



