MAN'S PLACE IN NATURE 



463 



In Haeckel's Cambridge lecture, "The Last Link," the facts 

 concerning this fossil are thus summed up: 



"The remains in question rested upon a conglomerate which lies 

 upon a bed of marine marl and sand of Pliocene Age. Together with 

 the bones of Pithecanthropus were found those of Stegodon, Leptobos, 

 Rhinoceros, Sus, Felis, Hyaena, Hippopotamus, Tapir, Elephas, and a 

 gigantic Pangolin. It is re- 

 markable that the first two 

 of these. genera are now ex- 

 tinct, and that neither hip- 

 popotamus nor hyaena exists 

 any longer in the oriental 

 region. If we may judge 

 from these fossil remains, 

 the bones of Pithecanthropus 

 are not younger than the 

 oldest Pleistocene and prob- 

 ably belong to the Upper 

 Pliocene. The teeth are very 

 like those of man. The fe- 

 mur also is very human, but 

 shows some resemblance to 

 that of the gibbons. Its size, 

 however, indicates an animal 

 which stood when erect not 

 less than five feet six inches 

 high. The skullcap is very 

 human, but with very promi- 

 nent eyebrow ridges, like 

 those of the famous Neander- 

 thal cranium. It is certainly not that of an idiot. It had an estimated 

 cranial capacity of about 1,000 c.c., that is to say, much larger than 

 that of the largest ape, which possesses not more than 600 c.c. The 

 crania of female Australians and Veddahs measure not more than 1,100 

 c.c., some even less than 1,000 c.c.; but as these Veddah women stand 

 only about four feet nine inches high, the computed cranial capacity 

 of the much taller Pithecanthropus is comparatively low indeed." 



The impressions left by the cerebral convolutions are also 

 very human, more highly developed than in the recent apes. 



FIG. 294. Remains of Pithecanthropus erectua; 

 the single femur shown in different aspects. 

 (From "The Open Court.") 



