THE DESCENT OF MAN 139 



blade, and this perforation, though now almost obsolete, 

 sometimes recurs in man, in which case the nerve in 

 question invariably passes through it, as in the inferior 

 monkeys. What is still more remarkable is the fact 

 that the perforation occurs far more frequently (in pro- 

 portion) among the skeletons of very ancient races than 

 among those of our own time. One chief cause why 

 in this and other cases ancient races often present 

 structures resembling those of the lower animals seems 

 to be that they stand nearer in the long line of descent 

 to their remote animal-like progenitors. 



The conclusion at which, after fully examining all 

 the evidence, Darwin finally arrives is somewhat as 

 follows : 



The early ancestors of man must have been more 

 or less monkey-like animals, belonging to the great 

 anthropoid group, and related to the progenitors of the 

 orang-outang, the chimpanzee, and the gorilla. They 

 must have been once covered with hair, both sexes 

 possessing beards. Their ears were probably pointed 

 and capable of movement, and their bodies were pro- 

 vided with a movable tail. The foot had a great toe 

 somewhat thumb-like in its action, with which they 

 could grasp the branches of trees. They were probably 

 arboreal in their habits, fruit-eaters by choice, and in- 

 habitants of some warm forest-clad land. The males had 

 great canine teeth, with which they fought one another 

 for the possession of the females. At a much earlier 

 period, the internal anatomical peculiarities approached 

 those of the lowest mammals, and the eye was provided 

 with a third eyelid. Peering still further back into the 

 dim abyss of the ages, Darwin vaguely describes the 



