Animal Life and Ours 



345 



man's ancestor. It is possible that the race of men — for of a 

 first man evolutionists cannot speak — began in Miocene times, 

 as offshoots from an ancestral stock common to them and to the 

 anthropoids. We often hear of " the missing link," but surely no 

 one expects to find him alive. And while we have still much to 

 learn from the imperfect geological record, it must be remembered 

 that what most distinguishes man will not be remarkable in a fossil, 

 for brains do not petrify except metaphorically, nor can we look for 

 fossilised intelligence or gentleness. 



Fig. 71.— Young gorilla. (From Du Chaillu.) 



5. Possible Factors in the Ascent of Man. — in regard to 

 the factors which secured man's ascent from a humbler form of life 

 we can only speculate. 



(a) We have already explained that organisms vary, that the 

 offspring differ from their parents, that the more favourable changes 

 prosper, and that the less fit die out of the struggle. Thus the race 

 is lifted. Now, from what we know of men and monkeys, it seems 

 likely that in the struggles of primitive man cunning was more 

 important than strength, and if intelligence now became, more than 

 ever before, the condition of life or death, wits would tend to 

 develop rapidly. • 



(b) When habits of using sticks and stones, of building shelters, 

 of living in families, began — and some monke'ys exhibit these — it is 

 likely that wits would increase by leaps and bounds. 



(c) Professor Fiske and others have emphasised the importance of 

 prolonged infancy, and this must surely have helped to evolve the 

 gentleness of mankind. 



