THE HAIR AS A RUDIMENTARY ORGAN. 20/ 



or even months, after birth. This remarkable "woolly 

 covering can only be explained as an inheritance from our 

 primordial long-haired ancestors, the Apes. 



It is equally worthy of note that many of the higher 

 Apes resemble Man in the thin coat of hair which covers 

 certain parts of their body. In most Apes, especially in 

 the higher Catarhines, the face is nearly or even quite bare, 

 or is covered with hairs as thin and as short as those of 

 Man. In these Apes also, just as in Man, the hair on the 

 back of the head is usually distinguished by its length, 

 and the males often have much beard and whisker. (Cf. 

 Fig. 202, p. 175). In both cases this masculine adornment 

 has been acquired in consequence of sexual selection. 

 In some Apes the breast and the inner sides of the joints 

 are very thinly covered with hair — far less abundantly than 

 is the back and the outer sides of the joints. On the other 

 hand, we not unfrequently see the shoulders, the back, and 

 the outer sides of the Hmbs thickly covered with hair in 

 men of Indo-Germanic or Semitic race. It is a well-known 

 fact that in some families abundant hair on the body is 

 hereditary, as is the relative vigour and character of the 

 hair-growth of the beard and head. These great differences 

 in the total and partial hairiness of the body, which appear 

 very striking not only when we compare different races of 

 man, but even when we compare many families belonging 

 to the same race, are very simply explained by the fact 

 that the entire hairy covering of Man is a rudimentary 

 organ, an unused inheritance, which has been transmitted 

 from the more hirsute Apes. In this matter, Man resembles 

 the Elephant, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Whale, and other 

 Mammals of various orders which have also entirely or 



