﻿876 
  Forty-seventh 
  Report 
  on 
  tee 
  State 
  Museum. 
  

  

  own 
  weight. 
  Komanes 
  reproduces 
  an 
  instantaneous 
  photograph, 
  

   taken 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Louis 
  Kobinson, 
  of 
  an 
  infant 
  three 
  weeks 
  old 
  sup- 
  

   porting 
  its 
  weight 
  from 
  a 
  bough 
  for 
  two 
  minutes.* 
  Such 
  an 
  

   infant 
  can 
  voluntarily 
  place 
  the 
  upper 
  surface 
  of 
  its 
  foot 
  back 
  

   against 
  the 
  leg 
  and 
  can 
  readily 
  appose 
  the 
  soles 
  of 
  the 
  feet. 
  It 
  

   may 
  occasionally 
  be 
  seen 
  to 
  grasp 
  objects 
  between 
  the 
  feet, 
  

   strongly 
  flexing 
  the 
  toes, 
  and 
  at 
  times 
  separating 
  the 
  great 
  toe 
  

   in 
  a 
  very 
  suggestive 
  manner. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  strange 
  things 
  is 
  that 
  

   structures 
  or 
  characters, 
  long 
  since 
  rendered 
  nearly 
  or 
  quite 
  use- 
  

   less, 
  should 
  persist 
  almost 
  indefinitely 
  in 
  the 
  young, 
  but 
  this 
  is 
  

   one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  common 
  occurrences 
  in 
  the 
  animal 
  kingdom. 
  

   It 
  is 
  these 
  which 
  the 
  infant 
  of 
  to-day 
  would 
  naturally 
  be 
  

   expected 
  to 
  show 
  rather 
  than 
  those 
  characters, 
  as 
  platycnemism, 
  

   etc., 
  which 
  were 
  directly 
  developed 
  from 
  climbing. 
  These 
  will 
  

   appear, 
  according 
  to 
  a 
  recognized 
  principle, 
  at 
  about 
  the 
  same 
  

   time 
  that 
  they 
  appeared 
  in 
  the 
  parent. 
  

  

  Another 
  evidence, 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  never 
  seen 
  adduced 
  as 
  such, 
  is 
  

   highly 
  corroborative. 
  The 
  most 
  restful 
  and, 
  consequently, 
  the 
  

   natural 
  color 
  for 
  the 
  eyes 
  is 
  chlorojphyl 
  green. 
  The 
  conclusion 
  to 
  

   be 
  reached 
  is 
  the 
  same 
  whether 
  we 
  assume 
  that 
  the 
  eye 
  of 
  man 
  

   was 
  originally 
  created 
  and 
  adapted 
  to 
  this 
  color 
  or 
  that 
  this 
  

   adaptation 
  was 
  slowly 
  developed 
  by 
  centuries 
  of 
  residence 
  in 
  and 
  

   about 
  foliage. 
  I 
  can 
  conceive 
  of 
  no 
  other 
  explanations. 
  Such 
  

   an 
  eye 
  is 
  certainly 
  not 
  best 
  adapted 
  to 
  the 
  wants 
  of 
  modern 
  

   civilization. 
  

  

  c. 
  Necessity 
  of 
  such 
  habit. 
  — 
  It 
  may 
  be 
  well, 
  before 
  closing 
  this 
  

   paper, 
  to 
  inquire 
  whether 
  an 
  arboreal 
  habit 
  would 
  be 
  natural 
  or 
  

   advantageous 
  to 
  primitive 
  man. 
  If 
  we 
  admit 
  that 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  

   savage 
  condition, 
  before 
  he 
  had 
  acquired 
  the 
  habit 
  of 
  construct- 
  

   ing 
  shelters 
  strong 
  enough 
  to 
  exclude 
  the 
  hordes 
  of 
  fierce 
  and 
  

   monstrous 
  beasts, 
  it 
  would 
  seem 
  that 
  his 
  very 
  existence 
  would 
  

   depend 
  upon 
  the 
  acquisition 
  of 
  this 
  habit. 
  Its 
  advantage 
  to 
  him 
  

   in 
  securing 
  certain 
  game, 
  fruits 
  and 
  nuts 
  is 
  at 
  once 
  recognized. 
  

   It 
  would, 
  undoubtedly, 
  be 
  systematically 
  practiced 
  in 
  youth 
  until 
  

   sufficient 
  skill 
  was 
  acquired. 
  It 
  would 
  be 
  partly 
  given 
  up 
  as 
  soon 
  

   as 
  man 
  became 
  able 
  to 
  cope 
  successfully 
  with 
  the 
  beasts 
  about 
  

   him, 
  and 
  perhaps 
  entirely 
  when 
  he 
  learned 
  to 
  cultivate 
  the 
  soil. 
  

  

  * 
  Darwin, 
  and 
  after 
  Darwin, 
  fig. 
  14, 
  p. 
  81. 
  

  

  