FROM APE TO MAN 239 



or part, but by the definite modification of parts already 

 present in the apes. Even that obscure internal worm- 

 like outgrowth of the intestine, called the " vermiform 

 appendix," which has become so unhappily familiar to 

 the general public of late years on account of its frequent 

 ulceration and the consequent danger to life, is present 

 in full size in those higher apes which I have cited by 

 name, and is present in them and man alone amongst all 

 the varied members of the class of mammals until we 

 come to the little Australian beaver-like " wombat," which 

 has a vermiform appendix or narrowed tube-like extremity 

 to the intestinal sac, called the caecum, like that of man 

 and the higher apes. 



The changes of bodily form and proportions notice- 

 able when we compare man with the gorilla or the 

 chimpanzee are precisely those which fit in with the 

 supposition of a gradual change of form and habits 

 favoured by natural selection in the struggle for existence 

 of ape-like creatures living originally in tropical forests, 

 but gradually spreading beyond the special conditions of 

 tropical life into other conditions and seeking to hold 

 their own and to nourish themselves and their young. 

 They have had to contend with one another for food 

 and safety and to defend themselves either by violence 

 or by craft against predatory animals and competitors of 

 all kinds. 



There are certain notions still current dating from 

 Roman times as to differences between man and apes, 

 which are simply erroneous and fanciful in origin. Thus, 

 at one time the possession of a tail was supposed to 

 separate animals, including monkeys and apes, from 

 man. The rare abnormal cases in which the end of the 

 vertebral column of man is free and projects as a tail. 



