1 76 THE EVOLUTION OP MAN. 



The division of the order of Apes into two sub-orders^ 

 the Platyrhince and the Catarhince, is, on account of the 

 constant hereditary characters, now generally accepted by 

 zoologists, and receives much support from the geographical 

 distribution of the two groups between the New and Old 

 Worlds. From this follows the direct inference, very im- 

 portant in its bearing on the Phylogeny of Apes, that, from 

 the primaeval common parent-form of the Ape-order, two 

 diverging lines branched out at a very early period, one of 

 which spread over the New World, the other over the Old. 

 It is certain that all the Flat-nosed Apes, on the one hand, 

 are descendants of a common parent-form, and, on the other 

 hand, all the Narrow-nosed Apes from another 



An inference concerning our own pedigree may be drawn 

 from this. Man has exactly the same characters, the same 

 peculiar formation of the teeth and nose, as all the 

 Catarhinse, and is as thoroughly distinguished by these 

 charateristics from the Platyrhinse. We are therefore com- 

 pelled, in classifying the Primates, to assign to Man a place 

 in the Narrow-nosed group. The bearing of this on our 

 tribal history is, that Man is immediately related in blood 

 to the apes of the Old World, and may be traced from a 

 parent-form common to all other Catarhinse also. Man is 

 a genuine Narrow-nosed Ape in his whole structure and 

 in origin, and has descended from some unknown, extinct 

 Catarhine form in the Old World. On the other hand, the 

 Apes of the New World, the Flat-nosed group, constitute a 

 diverging branch of our family tree, and stand in no near 

 genealogical relation to the human race. 



We have now reduced the circle of our nearest allies 

 to the small group, containing comparatively few forms, 



