

X. Manouvrier — Pithecanthropus erectus. 225 



phological resemblance to that of a young anthropoid is of a 

 nature to explain the divergence of opinions, some of which 

 ascribe it to a monkey, others, to the human species. But as it 

 is a question of an adult, this fact is pronouncedly in favor of 

 ascribing the skull to the human species with the reserve that 

 it occupies a rank morphologically intermediate between 

 anthropoids and the lowest human races. However, an anthro- 

 poid maintaining the upright position and possessing such a 

 cranium is nothing less than a low order of human, for it has 

 lost the essential traits which differentiate man from anthro- 

 poids. It is understood in this sense that the opinions of 

 Turner and Cunningham do not differ from mine. 



The important thing is the establishing of the fact that the 

 craniologic inferiority of fossil human races, according to the 

 specimens we know, increases with their antiquity. The dis- 

 covery of Mr. Dubois contributes to establish this fact. 



Let us represent by a line AD the entire family of Homi- 

 nidse, which, for the theory of evolution, includes, in addi- 

 tion to the genus Homo in its known state CD, an unknown 

 fossil portion CA, connecting the known portion with an 

 anthropoid ancestor whatsoever A. When we say that the 

 individual from Trinil belongs to the human species, that signi- 



A C D 



Trinil Spy 



Australians 



ties that it can enter into the portion CD within the limit L, 

 which, for the anti-evolutionists, the human species must not 

 overlap. 



When it is said, on the contrary, that the race of Trinil is 

 inferior to all known human races including the portion C, it is 

 considered thereby even as one of those intermediate races 

 TT' which, according to the theory of evolution, ought to have 

 formed the unknown portion of the line AD. — Whether or 

 not we place this race under the genus Homo (which is of little 

 moment for the evolutionist), we consider it as one of the 

 intermediate fossils theoretically foreseen. To contradict this 

 opinion and to attach the man of Trinil to the race of Spy is 

 to admit that it is a question always of the portion CD repre- 

 senting without theory the species or genus Homo. Such was 

 the former opinion of Turner and of Cunningham ; opinion 

 which has been perhaps modified since the direct examination 

 of the specimens under discussion. 



According to the contrary opinion, the Pithecanthropus 

 represents one of those fossil human races that the theory fore- 



