Verdun to the Vosges: Impressions of the War on the Fortress Frontier of FranceCampbell, Gerald
History
Verdun to the Vosges: Impressions of the War on the Fortress Frontier of France
Campbell, Gerald
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
ARBOREAL MAN.
By F. WOOD JONES, M.B., D.Sc.,
PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON (LONDON SCHOOL OF
MEDICINE FOR WOMEN).
_With 81 Illustrations and Diagrams. One Volume. Demy 8vo._
=8s. 6d. net.=
Put as concisely as possible, the theme of Dr. Wood Jones’s book is a
demonstration of the fact that Man, the supreme product of Evolution,
could only have been developed from animals which had their homes and
spent much of their lives in trees; the main point in the argument being
that the descendants of primitive animals living on the ground were
inevitably doomed to become quadrupeds, and so missed the chance of
acquiring the upright posture which is one of Man’s distinctive
attributes, at the same time paying for more immediate advantages by
losing for ever that invaluable organ, the hand.
Stated in these crude terms, the matter might at first sight seem to be
only a chapter, though an important one, in the story of Human
Evolution; but before the reader has progressed very far, he will begin
to realize that the arboreal habitat is not merely one of the
conditions, but the central and dominating factor in the whole process.
Not that living in trees was in itself sufficient to determine the line
of progress in an upward direction. Many classes of animals lived, as
many still live, mainly in trees. Mr. Wood Jones, reasoning on lines
which would delight the heart of M. Henri Bergson, shows how and why
only one of these classes continuously achieved “the successful minimum
of specialization,” and moved slowly but surely in a direction which
ended in Man, and not in a Lemur or a Sloth.
There is much more in the matter than this, but the whole argument of
the book does not admit of being summarized briefly. Much of it is based
on data supplied by Comparative Anatomy, of a character which only
experts can appreciate, but the author has skilfully and considerately
marshalled his material in such a way that the successive steps in the
development which he proves to have taken place can be followed and
understood by any intelligent layman.
LOVE, WORSHIP, AND DEATH.
SOME RENDERINGS FROM THE GREEK ANTHOLOGY.
By SIR RENNELL RODD, G.C.M.G.,
BRITISH AMBASSADOR AT ROME.
AUTHOR OF “BALLADS OF THE FLEET,” “THE VIOLET CROWN,” ETC.
_Small Crown 8vo._ =2s. 6d. net.=
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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