790 



SCIENCE. 



[]N. rf. Vol. III. No. 74. 



and extinct forms to which they were re- 

 lated, the author showed himself to be an 

 anatomist of more than usual attainments 

 and fully qualified to record the important 

 discovery he had made. In my review, 

 therefore, of this important memoir I en- 

 deavored to-state fairly the essential facts 

 of the discovery, as well as the main results 

 reached by Dr. Dubois after a careful study 

 of the remains. My own conclusions in 

 regard to this discovery, briefly stated in 

 my review, were as follows : 



" It is only justice to Dr. Dubois and his 

 admirable memoir to say here that he has 

 proved to science the existence of a new 

 prehistoric anthropoid form, not human in- 

 deed, but in size, brain power and erect 

 posture much nearer man than any animal 

 hitherto discovered, living or extinct. * * * 

 Whatever light future researches may 

 throw upon the aflinities of this new form 

 that left its remains in the volcanic de- 

 posits of Java during later Tertiary time, 

 there can be no doubt that the discovery 

 itself is an event equal in interest to that 

 of the Neanderthal skull. 



" The man of the I^eander valley re- 

 mained without honor, even in his own 

 country, for more than a quarter of a cen- 

 tury, and was still doubted and reviled 

 when his kinsmen, the men of Spy, came 

 to his defense, and a new chapter was added 

 to the early history of the human race. 

 The ape-man of Java comes to light at a 

 more fortunate time, when zeal for explora- 

 tion is so great that the discover j^ of addi- 

 tional remains may be expected at no dis- 

 tant day. That still other intermediate 

 forms will eventually be brought to light 

 no one familiar with the subject can doubt." 



In most scientific quarters, however, both 

 in this country and in Europe, Dr. Dubois's 

 discovery was not received with great favor 

 and the facts and conclusions stated in his 

 memoir were much criticised. The early 

 conclusions seemed to be that the various 



remains discovered were human and of no 

 great age ; that they did not belong to the 

 same individual ; that the skull apparently 

 pertained to an idiot, and that both the 

 skull and femur showed pathological fea- 

 tures. In fact, the old story of the distrust 

 aroused by the discovery of the Neander- 

 thal skull, nearly forty years before, was 

 repeated, although in milder form. 



It was a fortunate thing for science that 

 the Dutch government appreciated the im- 

 portance of the discovery made in its Jav- 

 anese province by Dr. Dubois, and last sum- 

 mer allowed him to return to Holland and 

 bring with him the precious remains he had 

 found and so well described. Not only 

 this, but he was also permitted to bring the 

 extensive collections of other vertebrate 

 fossils which he had secured from the same 

 horizon and in the same locality where the 

 Pithecanthropus was discovered. All these 

 were shown at the International Congress 

 of Zoologists, held at Leyden, in September 

 last, and on the 21st of that month Dr. 

 Dubois read an elaborate paper on his ori- 

 ginal discovery and on his later explora- 

 tions in the same region. This communi- 

 cation was in many respects the most im- 

 portant one of the session, and its presenta- 

 tion with the specimens themselves was a 

 rare treat to the large audience present, es- 

 pecially to those fitted to appreciate the 

 evidence laid before them.* 



Prof. Virchow, of Berlin, was presi- 

 dent of the meeting on that day, and had 

 brought various specimens to illustrate the 

 remarks he was to make in the discussion. 

 The famous Leyden museum was also 

 drawn upon for an extensive series of speci- 

 mens of man and the higher apes, so that, 

 if possible, the true position of Pithecanthro- 



* Compte-Eendu des Seances du Troisieme Congres 

 International de Zoologie, Leyden, September, 1895, 

 pp. 251-271, 1896. See also Transactions Eoyal 

 Dublin Society, Vol. VI., pp. 1-18, February, 1896; 

 and Anatomischer Anzeiger, Bd. XII., pp. 1-22, 1896. 



