87 



NOTES ON THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 

 By the Editor. 



This subject was specially treated on by Professor Hughes (in volume 

 xiii. of the Transactions), by Dr. Southall (in volume xv.), and has been 

 referred to by Mr. White (in volume xix.) ; and Mr. E. Charlesworth, F.G.S., 

 has made remarks (p. 82, ante) upon the great dissimilarity between the 

 structure of the gorilla and man, pointing out, foremost among other signifi- 

 cant differences, first, the' capacity of the brain, and secondly, the peculiar 

 high crest to the gorilla's skull, which latter is also found in that of the 

 hyena, but is absent in that of man. Mr. White, it will be remembered, 

 pointed out that if the capacity of the brain of the anthropoid ape were taken 

 at ten, that of man, even in his savage state, was twenty-six, or nearly 

 thrice as much, a very important fiict, when, as is known, any appreciable 

 diminution in the brain of man is at once accompanied by idiocy. As 

 regards the transmutability of species, Barrande's arguments against the 

 theory, founded on the results of a life of research among the fossil strata, 

 have not yet been overthrown ; and modern investigation clearly points to 

 the fact that one great bar to the transmutability of species lies in the 

 refined and minute differences in the molecular arrangements in their 

 organs.* Professor Virchow's remarks upon the subject are included in 

 volume xix., and to them we may add an opinion, given by a high authority, 

 that the whole British Museum Natural History Collection does not, as yet, 

 contain a particle of evidence of the transmutation of species. 



In regard to the ape descent of man, the following remarks are from the 

 pen of the Eev. W. Guest, F.G.S. :— 



" The latest of the books in The International Scientific Series 

 (Kegan Paul & Co.) is on 'Anthropoid Apes,' by Professor Hartmann, 

 of the University of Berlin. It is the last, and the most complete and 

 exhaustive treatise on the subject, and by one recognised as a highly dis- 

 tinguished naturalist. The work shows that the difi"erences between these 

 apes and man are greater than the resemblances, that their intelligence is 

 peculiar, but not greater than that of other animals, that they are interesting 

 subjects of study, but can never become useful ; that they cannot adapt 

 stones to their personal use ; they grow less like man as they become 

 older, especially in the head ; and that any close connection with man cannot 

 be proved. 



" Professor Hartmann thus sums up the argument : Man cannot have 

 descended from any of the fossil species which have hitherto come to the 

 notice of scientific inquirers, nor yet from any species of apes now extant. 

 A supposed progenitor of our race is necessarily completely hypothetical, 

 and all attempts hitherto made to construct even a doubtful representation 

 of its characteristics are based upon the trifling play of fancy. Even if the 

 assumed ancestral type should really be discovered in some geological stratum, 

 yet research will have to overcome immense difficulties, if it is to explain 

 the development of the understanding and speech, and the growth of inde- 

 pendent local intelligence. 



* See Professor Dabney's paper further on in this volume. 



