388 EVOLUTION OF MENTAL CHAEACTEES 



Pithecanthropus was certainly anterior to the PalaeoHthic. He 

 may, it is true, have used and even fashioned implements of 

 a very primitive type. It is noteworthy that, so far as can be 

 judged, in cranial capacity he stands about half-way between 

 modern man and the hypothetical ancestor, and if we are going 

 to make any deductions at all regarding so difificult a point, it 

 is reasonable to assume that in general his intellectual capacity 

 was about half-way between that of modern man and the pre- 

 human ancestor. 



On the basis of this evidence the broad outlines of the picture 

 are as follows. At the very least the intellectual development 

 of Early Palaeolithic man had reached a point half-way between 

 that of the pre-human ancestor and that of modern European 

 races. Almost certainly it had gone farther, perhaps considerably 

 further. As regards man in the Middle Palaeolithic, we have 

 details only regarding an aberrant type whose intellectual capacity, 

 though considerable, probably did not reach that of the con- 

 temporary ancestors of the Upper Palaeolithic types of whom 

 as yet we know nothing. The cranial capacity and other features 

 of the Upper Palaeolithic types show no essential differences 

 from modern man, though it has to be remembered that, as 

 cranial capacity is but a rough guide, differences in mental 

 capacity may have existed. 



3. In order to gain a more exact idea of the stage of mental 

 evolution reached in the first and second periods, we are obliged 

 to turn to the evidence supplied by primitive races, just as we 

 turned to them to fill in the gaps in our knowledge of the social 

 habits of Palaeolithic man. 



There are at least three methods whereby an attempt may 

 be made to arrive at some idea of the intellectual development 

 of primitive races as compared with modern European man. 

 There is to begin with a very large number of observations and 

 impressions recorded by men who in many cases have lived a long 

 time among primitive races and have had unusual opportunities 

 for judging them. Then attempts have been made to measure 

 the intelligence of these races by the use of the Binet-Simon 

 methods, and we may notice the results of some of these attempts. 

 Lastly, in certain parts of the world for some generations white 

 and coloured races have been living side by side under almost 

 identical conditions and now compete together almost on an 



