Let us further recollect that it is a common occurrence in the calendar
of life for a particular organ to be especially developed in one
member of a particular group more than in the others. The trunk of the
elephant, the neck of the giraffe, the limbs of the horse or deer, the
canines of the satire-toothed tiger, the wings of the bat, the colouring
of the tiger, the horns of the deer, are so many examples in the mammal
world alone. The brain is a useful organ like any other, and it is easy
to conceive that the circumstances of one group may select it just as
the environment of another group may lead to the selection of speed,
weapons, or colouring. In fact, as we saw, there was so great and
general an evolution of brain in the Tertiary Era that our modern
mammals quite commonly have many times the brain of their Tertiary
ancestors. Can we suggest any reasons why brain should be especially
developed in the apes, and more particularly still in the ancestors of
man?
The Primate group generally is a race of tree-climbers. The appearance
of fruit on early Tertiary trees and the multiplication of carnivores
explain this. The Primate is, except in a few robust cases, a
particularly defenceless animal. When its earliest ancestors came in
contact with fruit and nut-bearing trees, they developed climbing power
and other means of defence and offense were sacrificed. Keenness of
scent and range of hearing would now be of less moment, but sight would
be stimulated, especially when soft-footed climbing carnivores came on
the scene. There is, however, a much deeper significance in the adoption
of climbing, and we must borrow a page from the modern physiology of the
brain to understand it.
The stress laid in the modern education of young children on the use of
the hands is not merely due to a feeling that they should handle objects
as well as read about them. It is partly due to the belief of many
distinguished physiologists that the training of the hands has a direct
stimulating effect on the thought-centres in the brain. The centre in
the cerebrum which controls the use of the hands is on the fringe of
the region which seems to be concerned in mental operations. For reasons
which will appear presently, we may add that the centres for controlling
the muscles of the face and head are in the same region. Any finer
training or the use of the hands will develop the centre for the fore
limbs, and, on the principles, may react on the more important region of
the cortex. Hence in turning the fore foot into a hand, for climbing
and grasping purposes, the primitive Primate entered upon the path
of brain-development. Even the earliest Primates show large brains in
comparison with the small brains of their contemporaries.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account