The Doctrine of Evolution: Its Basis and Its ScopeCrampton, Henry Edward
Science
The Doctrine of Evolution: Its Basis and Its Scope
Crampton, Henry Edward
Evolution
The chimpanzee of intertropical Africa brings us to a still less
monkey-like and more manlike stage. This creature attains the height of
five feet, which is more than that of some of the lower races of man. It
possesses large ears and heavy overarching brows; its thumb and great toe
are more like those of man, though its foot is still practically a hand.
Its lower limb curves like those of the other apes, and its soles are
turned toward one another; in brief, it is naturally bow-legged, a
character that adapts it for a tree-climbing life. This animal also is
nearly, though not quite, erect. It shows a most marked advance in the
matter of the brain, for the cerebrum is richly folded or convoluted, and
with this higher degree of physical complexity is correlated its superior
intelligence; it is well known that chimpanzees can be taught to wear
clothing and to use a cup and spoon and bowl like a human child. Indeed,
in mental respects, the chimpanzee surpasses all of the other mammalia,
with the sole exception of man. An eminent psychologist has stated that it
is about the equal, in mental ability, of a nine months' old human infant.
The last form among the apes, the gorilla, is one that brings us to a
realization of our own human physical degeneracy. The animal lives in West
Equatorial Africa, and it is a veritable giant in bulk, though its height
may not exceed five feet six inches. The heavy ridges over the eyes, the
upturned nostrils and triangular nose, place it near to the orang-outang,
but it is superior to that form in its relatively greater brain-box, and
in the fact that its heavy lower jaws do not protrude so greatly. It, too,
is semi-erect, so that the line of the vertebral axis makes an angle with
the plane of the ground of about seventy degrees. Its anterior limbs, or
arms, are again very long and bulky; and like the chimpanzee, it rests its
knuckles upon the ground in walking.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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