DESCENT OF MAN FROM SOME LOWER FORM. 165 



scratch up roots with their hands. They seize nuts, in- 

 sects, or other small objects with the thumb in opposition 

 to the fingers, and no doubt they thus extract eggs and 

 the young from the nests of birds. American monkeys 

 beat the wild oranges on the branches until the rind is 

 cracked, and then tear it off with the fingers of the two 

 hands. In a wild state they break open hard fruits with 

 stones. Other monkeys open mussel-shells with the two 

 thumbs. With their fingers they pull out thorns and 

 burs, and hunt for each other's parasites. They roll 

 down stones, or throw them at their enemies ; neverthe- 

 less, they are clumsy in these various actions, and, as I 

 have myself seen, are quite unable to throw a stone with 

 precision, 



HOW MAN BECAME UPEIGHT. 



Descent ^ ^^ ^^ ^^ advantage to man to stand firm- 



of Man, ly on his feet and to have his hands and arms 

 page . |j.gg^ q£ which, from his pre-eminent success in 

 the battle of life, there can be no doubt, then I can see 

 no reason why it should not have been advantageous to 

 the progenitors of man to have become more and more 

 erect or bipedal. They would thus have been better able 

 to defend themselves with stones or clubs, to attack their 

 prey, or otherwise to obtain food. The best built indi- 

 viduals would in the long run have succeeded best, and 

 have survived in larger numbers. If the gorilla and a few 

 allied forms had become extinct, it might have been ar- 

 gued, with great force and apparent truth, that an ani- 

 mal could not have been gradually converted from a 

 quadruped into a biped, as all the individuals in an inter- 

 mediate condition would have been miserably ill-fitted 

 for progression. But we know (and this is well worthy 



