THE EVOLUTION OF MAN 



To this day there is living in the Sunda Islands, 

 that is to say, in the same locality where the 

 gibbon and the orang are living, and where once 

 upon a time Pithecanthropus struggled through 

 his existence, a queer little creature, partly re- 

 sembling a small monkey, partly a leap-mouse, 

 with long stilted legs. This little creature is so 

 funny in all its aspects that it has been called the 

 "tree toad" among mammals. The official name 

 of this little forest gnome is Tarsius spectrum. 

 This Tarsius is counted among the prosimiae in 

 the system. Quite a number of animals about 

 the size of a cat belong to this group, some of 

 them coming from Madagascar, and known as 

 "Makis." Furthermore, there are the so-called 

 Galagos and the very strange Finger-monkey. 

 At a certain period there existed in Madagascar 

 even some species of prosimiae, which were 

 nearly as large as a man. 



Now this little Tarsius has a certain character 

 which connects him very closely with the genuine 

 monkeys, first of all with the American Capuchin 

 monkey. Those who have been present at the 

 birth of a human being will remember a certain 

 bloody mass which is forthcoming after the birth 

 of the child. This is the so-called placenta/ So 

 long as the little human being rests in its mother's 



