THE PRINCli'LES OF RANK AMONG ANIMALS. 



39 



carbonic acid, ammoTiia, and microbes in the air. It would seem 

 that man armed with these instruments of precision, is likely to 

 somewhat neglect the proper use of his organs, so that the civi- 

 lized man is thought to be behind the savage in the acuteness of his 

 sense organs. 



The fact that man stands at the top of the animal pyramid I 

 think no one will dispute. 



Mr. J. W. Slater, F.C.S., F.E.S., writes :— 



The little time at my disposal does not permit me to enter upon 

 a thorough critique of the difficult subject taken up by Professor 

 Parker. I am very glad that the Author does not adopt the view 

 of Professor Minot, who considers an animal the higher, the more 

 widely its skull departs from the embryonic form. Were he to 

 follow out consistently this principle he would assign the highest 

 rank among the mammalia to the ant-eaters. 



The Author of the Paper before us lays down certain principles 

 for estimating the relative rank of an animal. These principles it 

 must be admitted are clearly expressed, and are, in the main, 

 trustworthy. But he does not clear the way by a preliminary 

 explanation whether he would arrange the animal world on a single 

 ascending line, or on a number of ramifications like the branches 

 of a tree. The former plan, now generally abandoned, is fallaciously 

 easy. 



Professor Parker says, " That their so-called families, including 

 lemurs, have as great or even greater visible diflferences among 

 themselves does not bridge the chasm between him and the gorilla 

 and chimpanzee on this zoological principle of rank." On this 

 point differences of opinion exist. 



Sec. 5. It is hard to see how the old Cuvierian distinction between 

 " bimana " and " quadrumana " can be maintained. The hind 

 extremities of the gorilla, etc., have heel-bones as decided as our 

 own, and the man who can talk of a hand with a heel- bone seems 

 to be playing with the intelligence of his hearers. 



Sec. 7. The predominance of the head in an animal structure 

 spoken of here as " James D. Dana's criterion," was, I believe, first 

 noticed by Professor Carus, and is in full contradiction to the error 

 of Minot. 



The remark, however, that squirrels use their fore-hand in eating 

 more dextrously than do monkeys must surprise anyone who has 

 seen a monkey tie knots, or unscrew and screw the handle of a 

 brush ! 



Sec. 10. How can it well be said that " Man, as compared with 

 even the creatures nearest to him, certainly is unique in long post- 

 natal development, physical and mental." On referring to Dr. 

 A. R. Wallace's Eastern Archipelago we shall find an account of 

 the babyhood of a Mias, which shows a striking parallelism with 

 the infancy of our own species. 



