﻿Report 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  Geologisi. 
  873 
  

  

  I 
  

  

  used 
  for 
  carrying 
  and 
  holding 
  objects, 
  and 
  the 
  strain 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  bodily 
  support 
  would 
  be 
  thrown 
  more 
  frequently 
  upon 
  the 
  left. 
  

   c. 
  Compression 
  of 
  femur, 
  etc. 
  This 
  character, 
  together 
  with 
  

   the 
  curvatures 
  of 
  the 
  tibia, 
  the 
  deformation 
  of 
  the 
  pelvis, 
  the 
  

   greater 
  relative 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  forearms, 
  the 
  posterior 
  position 
  

   of 
  the 
  foramen 
  magnum, 
  and 
  many 
  (not 
  all) 
  of 
  the 
  other 
  so-called 
  

   " 
  simian 
  characters," 
  frequently 
  occurring 
  in 
  man, 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  

   explained 
  upon 
  the 
  principle 
  of 
  " 
  analogous 
  variation." 
  If 
  we 
  

   subject 
  man 
  to 
  practically 
  the 
  same 
  habits 
  as 
  the 
  ape, 
  we 
  must 
  

   expect 
  his 
  body 
  to 
  be 
  similarly 
  modified 
  although, 
  through 
  our 
  

   ignorance 
  of 
  environmental 
  influences, 
  we 
  may 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  give 
  

   no 
  satisfactory 
  explanation 
  of 
  all 
  of 
  these 
  modifications. 
  

  

  7. 
  Evidence 
  of 
  an 
  Arboreal 
  Habit. 
  

  

  a. 
  Comparative 
  anatomy. 
  — 
  The 
  main 
  evidence 
  under 
  this 
  head 
  

   has 
  been 
  presented, 
  but 
  it 
  remains 
  to 
  explain 
  the 
  occurrences 
  of 
  

   these 
  peculiar 
  characters 
  in 
  ancient 
  and 
  modern 
  peoples. 
  If 
  all 
  

   races 
  have 
  descended 
  from 
  this 
  arboreal 
  stock 
  these 
  characters 
  

   would 
  be 
  directly 
  inherited 
  for 
  many 
  generations 
  and 
  would 
  

   abundantly 
  appear 
  in 
  the 
  ancestral 
  stock 
  of 
  each 
  branch. 
  

   Changed 
  habits, 
  however, 
  would 
  slowly 
  lead 
  to 
  corresponding 
  

   changes 
  in 
  the 
  skeleton, 
  gradually 
  effacing 
  the 
  primitive 
  structures 
  

   and 
  leading 
  up 
  to 
  what 
  is 
  now 
  considered 
  the 
  normal 
  type. 
  In 
  

   the 
  case 
  of 
  those 
  peoples, 
  whose 
  departure 
  from 
  the 
  primitive 
  

   type 
  has 
  been 
  greatest, 
  we 
  should 
  expect 
  comparatively 
  few 
  

   " 
  reversions." 
  In 
  those 
  races 
  which 
  have 
  made 
  the 
  least 
  physical 
  

   progress 
  we 
  might 
  reasonably 
  expect 
  to 
  find 
  these 
  ancestral 
  

   characters 
  frequently 
  outcropping. 
  Now, 
  in 
  general, 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  

   found 
  that 
  the 
  percentage 
  of 
  platycnemism, 
  of 
  the 
  backward 
  

   deflection 
  of 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  the 
  tibia, 
  and 
  the 
  perforation 
  of 
  the 
  

   humerus 
  is 
  highest 
  in 
  the 
  most 
  ancient 
  remains 
  found 
  and 
  that 
  

   it 
  gradually 
  diminishes 
  toward 
  modern 
  times. 
  In 
  the 
  case 
  

   of 
  the 
  Detroit 
  river 
  mounds 
  Gillman 
  states 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  an 
  excep- 
  

   tion 
  to 
  find 
  a 
  tibia 
  not 
  flattened, 
  and 
  whenever 
  this 
  occurred 
  there 
  

   was 
  evidence 
  of 
  its 
  having 
  been 
  of 
  later 
  burial.* 
  All 
  the 
  

   tibiae 
  from 
  the 
  Gibraltar 
  caves 
  were 
  stated 
  to 
  show 
  this 
  character. 
  

   Mme. 
  CI. 
  Royer 
  relates 
  once 
  visiting 
  M. 
  Hamy 
  in 
  his 
  laboratory 
  

  

  * 
  The 
  American 
  Naturalist. 
  Vol. 
  V, 
  1871, 
  p. 
  663. 
  

  

  110 
  

  

  