Richland beacon., 1873-02-22
Was Your Grandfather a Monkey!

Max Mueller, one of the ablest of living
linguists, in q lecture recently DELIVERED
at Liverpool, i'm which he addressed him
self to the phase OF Mr.. Darwin's theory
which deals with the possibility of the
higher animals acquiring the faculty OF
articulate speech, says most emphatlcally
YNO.''
Materialism, he said. is everywhere in
the ascendant, while Idealsm is almost
become term of reproach. In this nd
die of mind and matter the world is the
theater of a struggle for the primary OF
mind over matter. But when the evolu-
tionists contend that the development of
the mind of man out of the mind OF an
animal is "A mere question OF time the pro-
fessor felt inclined to treat the idea win
Impotence. Animals must be animals so
long as they lack the faculty of abstract
ing general ideas.
| This question of the descent OF man
may be called the controversy of the nine
teenth century, and requires the whole
knowledge of the century to answer it
adequately. The lecturer. combining him.
self to the evolution theory as it affects
| language, essaycd to show that between
the language of animals and the language
of man there is no natural bridge, and
that to account for, human language such
as we possess would require faculty OF
which no trace has ever been discovered
in lower animals. If, as Mr.. Darwin bcgs
us to assume, there were a series OF de-
velOpments graduating insensibly from
apes to man, it would of course be impos-
sible to fix definite point where the ape
ended and the man began; but he asks us
to assume that which does not exist aiai
without evidence TO support this, OF which
there is none, the theory remains only a
theory. Indeed, said the professor, when
ever the distance between two points in
the chain of development seems too great,
we are told again and again that we must
only imagine large number of intermit-
ted beings representing gradations insen'
. . sibly slOping up or sloping down, in or.
der TO remove all difficulty. So is in the
case between the monkey and man.
r This point was illustrated most apo
sitely by reference to the HindOo notion
S that nian is descended from the spirit o
{ the Creator, through series of links now
extinct, the first descendant being nine
c tenths God and one-tenth man, the see
e Ond being eight-tenths God and twO-tenth
5 man, and so on till man becomes ten
d tenths man, and ceased to be of the es
sence of the Great Spirit. Mr.. Darwin
G fallacy, he said, turks in the very wor'
n development, for the admission o
D this insensible graduation through serie
Is of organized beings would eliminate no
only the difference between the ape an
j. the man, but likewise the difference Dc
# tween peat and coal, between black an
"a white. between high and lOw-in fact,
II would do away with the possibility of a
" definite knowledge. Mr.. Darwin admit
9 that articulate language is peculiar to MAJ
u but contends that animals have. in low
er stage of development, the identical fa'
= ultics necessary to the invention of arti
u ulate expressions. To this he replied tn;
no development of mental faculties hi
r ever enabled any animal to connect OF
z, single definite idea with one single DEF
ne mite word.
On He gave various illustrations of the
sential difference between the eXpreSSlC
ne of emotions and the expression of id@;
tn or abstract conceptions, and argued
ed length as to the impOssiblity OF me
RS emotional signs and sounds developll
" into articulate speech and he ridicul'
the notion that the materials of langua!
rs. being given, all the rest was mere que
he ton Of time, natural graduation from q
id neigh of the horse to the poetry of Goetl'
)st Man and animals possess emotional la
Ter guage in common, because man is an al
NAL but animals do not possess ration
fec language, because they are not man. Il
nd distinction between emotional and ratio
the al language, so far from being fanciful al
res artificial, is radical, as proved by vario
ew evidence, especially by the testimony
.ce. pathology in reference to certain bra
ho diseases. Rational language is to
NO, W traced back to roots, and every root i
e the sign Of a general conception or I
mol stract idea of Which the animal mind
pa pr incapable. Mr.. Darwin has said thu
are savage languages which contain
abstract terms; but the names for co
EN-, mon objects, such as father, moth
'ted brother. &C., are abstract terms. and
AIRY less Mr.. Darwin is prepared to produc
err language containing no such names,
res statements, said the lecturer, fall to
ground as the result OF a miscOncept
With of the real nature of a general idea as {
five tinguished from an emotion. This phi
ged of the controversy lies within the pro
AXE sOr's peculiar domain, and he was able
lun- entertain his audience with technical i'll
trations that in ordinary hands must h
ston proved tedious, but in the hands of
" is most accomplished linguist of the (
ton proved a source of wonder and amt
dy's ment to his hearers. He concluded as
else had begun, by maintaining that lahgu
is the true barrier between man
haoct