LECTURE VIII. 223 



That all human races belong to the same genus admits of 

 no doubt. The sum of characters which connect the white 

 with the black, on the one hand, and separate him, on the 

 other, from the most anthropoid ape, are, by the admission of 

 all naturalists, so great, that they determine a separation as a 

 genus and a family. But now opinions diverge. Whilst some 

 would, according to zoological characters, consider the human 

 genus as a family of the simious type ; others would consider 

 man as constituting a separate kingdom, of the same value as 

 the vegetable and animal kingdom. Let us shortly examine 

 these theories. 



It is undeniable that, in the human and the simious struc- 

 ture, one fundamental plan is perceptible, which is well marked 

 in most parts. The formation of the brain, the structure of 

 the skeleton, the position of the bowels, — all indicate this 

 fundamental plan. But within this fundamental plan, which 

 is as plain as that in the carnivora and ruminants, there occur 

 deviations, such as we have explained in a former lecture ; and 

 the question is whether these deviations are sufficiently great 

 to justify a separation from the ape, or whether in the ape 

 family itself there obtain differences as great as between man 

 and ape. 



Naturalists distinguish from the apes proper so-called half- 

 apes [jprosimicB) , which, as regards the form of the limbs and 

 hands, are perfect apes, but are distinguished by form of skull, 

 brain, and teeth. The hands are generally well-developed ; 

 only the forefinger of the posterior, and sometimes that 

 of the anterior extremities, is provided with claws, adapted 

 for scratching out the insects from fissures. These de- 

 viations would scarcely render a separation necessary, as 

 greater differences in the formation of the hands occur also in 

 European and American apes, in some of which the thumb in 

 the fore extremities is either entirely absent or curtailed to a 

 stump. The difierences in the structure of skull, brain, and 

 teeth seem, however, sufiiciently important to justify a separa- 

 tion of the prosimice from the apes proper. The cranium is 

 round and small, the muzzle prominent ; the teeth scarcely 

 resemble those of the apes, they are serried, exhibiting no 



