THE ORIGIN OF MAN in 



It is generally agreed now among the experts that 

 leaving the trees and beginning to live on the ground 

 is enough to give our branch of the family an advan- 

 tage. Of the four man-like apes three live to some 

 extent on the ground, and some even use their hands 

 to help them along. The fourth, the gibbon, is much 

 more of an arboreal animal. It is very unlike man, 

 and not particularly intelligent, but it may interest 

 us here for two reasons: it can stand upright, and it 

 is extraordinarily active in the trees. Of course, it is 

 not in the line of our ancestry, but some of the best 

 authorities think that man's ancestor was probably 

 very active like the gibbon. If you have seen a gibbon 

 in its cage at the Zoological Gardens, you must have 

 noticed its prodigious leaps and untiring activity. 



Now, it is supposed that our branch of the family 

 quitted the trees. It has been suggested that perhaps 

 our ancestors lived in forests in certain parts of Asia, 

 and that, owing to the rise of the land and increasing 

 dryness of the atmosphere, the forests disappeared. 

 Many reasons could be imagined. In any case, you 

 will have no difficulty in seeing that such a descent 

 from the trees would sharpen the wit. On the ground 

 a sharper watch must be kept for enemies. The hunt 

 for food is more exacting than among nut and fruit- 

 bearing trees. The back legs bear the weight of the 

 body more and more. The hands are used more and 

 more as hands. Physiologists work out the effect on 

 the brain of all these changes, and they tell us that 



