MILESTONES OF EVOLUTION 53 



We refer, for instance, to the fact that an infant at three 

 weeks old is quite capable of sustaining the weight of 

 the body when suspended by the arms. That is to say, 

 if the hands be made to grip a rod of suitable size, such 

 an infant will support its own weight for as long as two 

 minutes ; and during this time, it is significant to note, 

 the legs are drawn up, the soles of the feet turned inwards, 

 and the toes spread, instinctively seeking for a grasp for 

 the feet, as a young chimpanzee would do. 



The unexpected muscular force of an infant's grip is 

 exactly comparable to that displayed by the young of 

 anthropoid apes — gorillas and chimpanzees, for example 

 — which are perforce obliged to cling to the mother's hair 

 as she carries them about amid the tree-tops. The feet 

 and legs of infants display an even greater likeness to 

 those of the apes, whose forbears and ours must be 

 accorded a common ancestry. This likeness lies in the 

 unmistakably incurved shape of the shank of the leg, 

 and the inturned position of the soles of the feet when 

 the body is in a sitting posture. 



Further, the feet of infants display a quite remarkable 

 mobility in all directions, as do those of apes ; and similarly 

 the great toe in its freedom of lateral movement reminds 

 one forcibly of the opposable hind-toe of the grasping 

 foot of the apes and monkeys. 



Later, as the child begins to acquire the art of standing 

 alone, it will be noticed that the toes are always strongly 

 bent towards the ground, making an unconscious effort 

 to obtain a grip of the carpet or whatever else may be 

 under the feet : this again is a survival of an old habit. 



