THE EVOLUTION OF MAN 



present Capuchin monkey is in many respects, 

 physically and mentally, man-like. It also has 

 secret relations with the gibbon, and thus to the 

 archetype of the Pithecanthropus kind. Thus, 

 many things favor the more recent assumption 

 that possibly these bright, gentle and highly in- 

 telligent American Capuchin monkeys are the 

 closest of any of the present monkey forms to 

 that genuine monkey type of man which belongs 

 to the Eocene period. 



On the other hand, the small and squirrel-like 

 marmosets must be eliminated from our line of 

 descent and regarded as a side line. Most likely 

 they are a one-sided adaptation to special con- 

 ditions in South America. 



But now that we have gotten so far, there can 

 be no doubt as to the next question. If man can 

 be traced so far back in monkeydom, he cannot 

 but share all the vicissitudes of monkey life fur- 

 ther back. Whatever may be the general descent; 

 tof monkeys, that is at the same time the line of! 

 jman's development. The prototype of monkeys! 

 |is also that of man. 



The conventional system of mammals proceeds 

 along a great downward scale. First we have 

 the prosimiae, bats, insectivora! such as the 

 hedge-hog, then ^rnivorjj ro^^itsf the large and 



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