The New York herald., 1867-02-27
TIE MONKEYS OF SOUTH AMERICA.
Interesting and Instructive Lecture BY Pro-
fesscr Louis Agassiz.

ine large nan Oh cooper institute WAS CROWDED last
evening with highly intelligent and respectable audi
once OF ladies and gentlemen, the occasion Of Proes-
Louis Agasszs last lecture under auspices
"A ssocation for the Advancement Of Science and Art
Having successfully unfolded in popular form the
treasures Of knowledge which he had acquired Of the
Amazon river and the region which traverses OBJ
tanned by his recent extended of that portion Of
the American continent far refers to the congura
tion OF that immense basin inland ocean, its
glacial traces geological structure land and aquatic ami
mails and the wealth and variety OF It's rich tropical vege
taton his lecture last evening had reference to the
monkeys Of South America and to its native Inhabitants
so far they differ in habits appearance and ethnoogi
cal conformation from the people Of other portions OF the
American continent On the subject Of the monkeys of
Brazil and the region of the Amazon tho OF
Professor Agassz faithful to nature and pointed
by advanced scientific knowledge as 10 be enter
tanning and instructive and highly interesting.
At little before eight o'clock the lecturer was in
troduccd by Dr. GrscomSand proceeded to discuss the
subject OF his discourse, 'rhe Monkeys and the Native
Inhabitants Of South America" as follows:-
LADIES GENrLEMES-In unguarded moment 1
proposed for this evenings lecture the subject which
has been announced upon the tickets. II I had con-
sidered the matter more maturely ! would probably
have abstaned from bringing into such public notice
subject full Of difficulties, respecting which, after all,
so little is Known and with reference 10 which there are
such extreme vieT rs entertained by the most competent
investigators As is, have nothing left but candidy
to express my convictions without reticence and II
can, without prep0ssessi0n. or course you do not
expect that shall present to anecdotes concerning
the moneys which have seen playing among the trees
In the valley OF the Amazon, nor contrast with them he
habits Of the native Inhabitants; but that shall
sxe view .ne suSec. xs sno
the monkeys and mankind This subject for
the last ten years has engaged the direct attention OF a.
naurasts and with reference to which all the nvestga
made within the last ten years have been
less directly Connected Tor nowadays when naturalist
studies the anatomy Of animal is with reference
the possible explanation of the in which that
complicated structure brought into existence II
naturalist nowadays investigates the embrioogy OF an
animal-that is, its transformations, its successive
changest is with view Of ascertanng how that law
which regulates those changes is stamped upon 1t
living being When naturaists nowadays investigate
the geographical distributions Of ANIMALS upon the
surface OF our earth 1t is with view Of ascerainng
the Ufsvs all oVer the soSe has pss
produced, what is the primitive origin of this great
diversity When geologsis investigate the fossils the
remains Of which buried in the strata of earth,
when they the order in which they have followed
another in the Of time it is At present with
view of ascertanng how this succession has been in
duced which were the first which have followed and in
what relation they stand 10 one another. And when
men investigate the differences which exist among
their fellow men IL with view of ascertain
ing whether men originated from one primary cause
or whether there is a multiple origin TO humanity
You see whenever naturaiss nowadays approach their
subject 1t Is everywhere with vew-to ascertain If
can be done what way things originate and what ID
cause Oh tno Wnlcn we observe
among them. And the subject is just opening We
have hardly any result 10 present On the contrary
have extreme views cashing with another, much
so the views which divide men concerning matters
Di their salvation which interest with reference
heir social organization. For have schools in natural
history, there have been schools in. philosophy. We
have, it were, sects have denominations among
and one has right TO present his view of
The subject as the only correct one His obligation is
10 present his views and to discuss his arguments
IN the hope Of pressing his views, il he ID
deeply convinced OF their hs hearer but
not with the pretenson that he has found the lna
tion Of the problem There great change in that
spect great chance has come upon men in that
If mon 10 Ina, ths truth M h au ,hsn 81
siyey. Men have learned that there is only CON-
mon foundation for their beliefs, however much they
will differ from another In their religious practices
Men have learned that there is only their
knowledge. whicn Is nature, however much they may
differ their Interpretation Of natures facts And is
with TINT consciousness that l will present this
evening my view upon the subject of the
relat on which exists between man aud monkey;
urging those views which my convictions, Dut
urging them with the that there other
views entertained by others. (Appiacse) wish, how.
ever, TO begin my statements with clear record, and
therefore want make few statements concerning
accusations which have been made against in scien
my public lectures make loose statements, which are
not accurate in matters Of fact that allow self to be
carried away by the impulse OF the moment and that
my statements lacked that precision which entities to
respect and confidence. And examples OF such loose
quoted Now will. that you may know
ust answer a few Of these statements In some
II the lectures have delivered l have
stated that vertebrAtes have four limbs and
is argued that everybody who Is familiar with the last
records Of science knows that whales and that por
poses, &C, have only two limbs This know is the
statement Of the text books, but the text books only
second hand. OF knowledge, and IL
bcse critics had looked at the Original information upon
his matter, i they had consulted the work Of Rapp
81; bones, by Cuver, or the most extensive works Of
natural history they would have known that rudimenta
exterior limbs exist in all these animals, and that they
only concealed by the skin. And have d'ssected
porpoises enough and have lately had opportunity
hss know from nersona Observation that these inves
legations OF the anaomsts have quoted Is correct when
they say that beside the fully developed pair Of limbs
which these animals have the sde OF the chest they
have second rudimcntary pair concealed under the
skin, which is imperfectiy developed. Therefore
reerate statement that II IS natural tendency In
all csrtebrnt to develop four limbs and that here and
there only developed, and in some the second
pas = unuea zoe m tne o.ne NAV nave neen
the skin So much for that one statement tApplause)
The second Is that affirmed that fishes have lived tand
long list OF other errors is enumeraied that fishes had
existed from beginning oi creation-as early the
other animals, while IN reality they existed only
from the time OF the dlovian period Now
how is II with thisS II in the oldest state,
the remains preserved were perfect might be easy to
distinguish crustacea, crab or lobster from sh.
But In these Oldest beds Of remains which have aud
which have been interpreted by fish and by
others crustacea they only fragmentary spines
in the common dognsh. illustrating on the chart.j
The dorsa I'm has In ~ anterior part small bony I'm,
or spine. Which protests in this way Illus.rs.ingl
sides Of the second sheath series Of spnes which
somewhat alike In appearance 70 these spines Qllus-
ratna) Now spines Of this kind, resembling nns,
numerous In the oldest beds In which fossil remains
have been found. and the question ID whether
they are the remains OF crustacea or the re
mans Of fshcs Some naturaisis have affirmed
that they are the remains OF crustacea have
affirmed that they the remains Of nshee- And have
based my assertion upon this the structure OF the spnes
Of the crustacca when examined microscopcaly TO
the characters o the substances which forms the shield
OF the crustacea The spines in fishes have the charsc
testc structure icroscopicaly OF bones which svery
easily distinguished from every other structure. Now
those pnes Of these oldest deposits have the character
sc structure Of bone therefore again that these
spines the spnes OF fishes and that wrong
when that fishes have existed aseary any other
kind OF animals. tApplause) But this is place for
controversy and will now turn to the subject Of this
eveuings lecture and consider with you the question Of
the relation which exists between monkeys and
man. That question is recent question. Ancient
naturasts did not think Of comparing men and monkeys
any more, specifically, than than they compare mon
with other anmalA The works OF Aristotle, Ia which
we have the earliest comparisons Of this kind, two
thousand iyears ago, discuss the structure Of
compared with animals, but he does not fnd special