The Speech of MonkeysGarner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Science
The Speech of Monkeys
Garner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Monkeys; Sound production by animals; Speech
The skeleton of man is only the polished structure of which that of the
ape is the rough model. The identity of the two, part by part, is as
much the same as the light sulky is the outgrowth of the massive
framework of the old-time cart. Whether man and ape are related by any
ties of blood or not, it is evident that they were modelled on the same
plan, provided with the same means, and designed for like purposes,
whatever they may be. The organs of sensation and the functions which
they discharge are the same in both, and the same external forces
addressing themselves thereto produce the same results. I do not mean to
say that the same organ in each is developed in the same degree as that
in the other, for this is not the case even in different individuals of
the same kind. In the muscular system of the one is found an exact
duplicate of the other, except in such slight changes of model as will
better adapt the parts to those conditions of life under which the
animal having them may be placed, and through the whole physical
structure of both we find that unity of part and purpose in structure
and function, in bone, muscle, nerve, and brain. It has been shown
beyond a reasonable doubt that the brain in the higher races of mankind
has reached its present form through a series of changes which are
constant and definite; and this organ in the lower types of man
resembles more that of the ape than does the same organ in the higher
types of man; and by a method of deduction, such as we use to determine
the height of a tree or the width of a stream by the length of a shadow,
we find that the fiducial lines which bound the planes in the
perspective of man's cerebral growth, likewise embrace those of the ape.
While it is a fact that the mind of man so far transcends that of the
ape, it is also a fact that in reaching this condition it has passed
through such planes as those now occupied by the ape. The physical
changes of man's brain do not appear to keep pace with the growth of his
mind. This may be a paradox, but the evidence upon which it rests is
ample to sustain it.
[Sidenote: MAN AND APE]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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