PER GIUSEPPE GHIRINGHELLO 347 



progenie, potrà questa riuscire più e più inetta alla propria vita sci- 

 miatica, senza acquistare perciò punto o fiore di attitudine, gusto e 

 capacità per la vita sociale ed umana (0. Insomma, un continuo ed 



(1) a' La forme du singe 7ie lui a pas èie donnce sans ititcnlìonj elle s^havnwnise avec set maniere 

 de vivre, qui est laute speciale: c'eii le Seul mammifere ile grande faille qui soil arboricole. Ses longs 

 bi'as, ses longues jambes, ses pouces opposables , la souplesse de ses articulations , ce corps si agile 

 et ses membres si flexibles, conrìennent tout-à-fail à ses habiludes d'acrobate ; il court sans peine sur 

 les arbres : on croirait que c'est pour lui qu'aurait élé indente le mot gambadcr. Forcez cet animai à 

 marcher, et le voilà gene camme le chien savanl qui danse sur les pattes de derrière. — Paur craire à 

 celle descendance de Vhamme par le singe, il faut sortir de tonte vraisemblance ; svpposer que la vie 

 arboricole lui aura di'plu, que las de courir sur les arbres, il ait pu juger que le séjour de la plai?ie 

 valait mieux, et qu'il fallait, quittant des habiludes justifiées par l'arganisation, s'essayer à la marche, 

 lui, ses petits et leur lignee. Celle rèsolution , suine d'effet , aura rendu les pieds moins maladraits ; 

 les pouces, dont le syslème musculaire se sera modifié, n'auront plus élé opposables qu'aiix mains; 

 les mollets et les muscles fessiers se seront prononcés davanlage, afin de rendre la station verticale plus 

 facile. La face aura pris le caraclere et le calme de la physionomie humaine ; plus de nez aplati, plus 

 de museau prognathe , plus de grimaces, plus de gambadesl Tout le reste s'en sera suivi, armes, abri 

 contre les intempéries de l'air, provisions pour préi'cnir les disettes ; langage sans lequel ne saurait étre 

 forme le lien de la famille, moralité des acles, conscience, intelligence toujours en progres ■ et le singe, 

 ainsi métamorphosé, apres aioir changé le fruii pour la ckair, sera devenu "un des ancétres de Newton, 

 de Leibnitz et de Descartes. Ne croyons pas à de semblablcs merveilles ; rien n'a pu se passer ainsi. » 

 Fée, op. cit,, pag. 52-53. Al qual proposito osserva acconciamenle il Crawfurd che, mentre tutte 

 le razze umane sono fra loro perennemente prolifiche, e si naturano ad ogni clima, e gli stessi 

 animali domestici le possono accompagnare sino al sessantesimo grado di latitudine; le varie specie 

 di scimie non s'incrociano fra loro, la loro stanza è ristretta nelle foreste tropicali, ne più addo- 

 meslichevoli del lupo, dell'orso polare e del tigre, ne più industriose del cinghiale arieggiano cos'i 

 poco l'intelligenza dell'uomo, che le più stupide fra le antropoidi sono quelle che più gli ras- 

 somigliano anatomicamente. « Tfhile the sìmilitudes of the monkeys lo man are stated, it might he 

 well to state also the dissimilitudes . In the relation of the sexes the monkeys are sheer brute heasts. 

 Ali the different races of man intermix to the production of fertile offspring. No intercourse al ali 

 takes place between the different species of monkeys. Man, of one variely or another, exists and multi- 

 plies in enery climate; for there is hardly a country capable of affording him the means of subsistence 

 in which he is mot found. The monkeys are chiefly found with in the tropics, and seldom aboi'e a few 

 degrees beyond them. In adaptation to the vicissitudes of climate, the monkey is not only beloui ma?i, 

 but below the dog, the hog, the ox and the borse, for ali those thrive from the equator up to the six- 

 tieth degree of latitude. The naturai abode of man is the Uvei earth - that of the monkeys the foresi. 

 If there were no forests there would be no monkeys j their whole frame is calculaled for this mode oflife. 

 Man came inlo the world naked and houseless, and had to previde himself with clothing and dwelling 

 by the exercise of superior brain and hands. The monkeys are furnishsd by nature with a clothing 

 lìke the resi of the lower animals, and their diuellings are not superior to those of the wild boar, not 

 for a moment comparable to those of the beaver. Ali the the races of man, however low their condilion, 

 bave been immemorially in a state of domestication; but the monkeys of evcry species are as incapable 

 of domestication as the wolf, the palar bear, or the tiger. Man has the faculty of storing knowledge 

 for his own use and that of ali future generations ; in these réspects every generation of monkeys 

 resembles that which has preceded it, and so, most probably has it been from the first creatian oftlie 

 family. The special prerogative of man is language ; and no race of man, however meanly endowed, 

 has evcT been found that had noi the capacity of framing one. In this mailer the monkey ii hardly 



