Wichita eagle., 1889-11-29
MANS POOR RELATIONS,
THE FROG AND THE MONKEY
OUGHT TO BE so REGARDED.

The Wonderful Likeness Between the Ba-
trachian and the Human Being-The
Ape Morally and Mentally Considered.
The ProfessorsS Views.
''The most interesting thing about frog"
said the professor Of anatomy, lis its extraor-
binary structural resemblance to the human
being. II you bad an opportunity OF CON-
pairing the two by dissection, you would not
be astonished at the notion which many phys
biologists have expressed, that man and the
from the same original ancestry. Incidental
ly, you would observe that Nj Frog is very
high up in the scale of development that runs
You would find that the arrangement and
formation Of his bones and muscles are pretty
much the same as in man.
THE THUMB.
'There is one physical characteristic, how
ever, which alone entities the frog to an ele-
waited status in creation he has a thumb
For it is not to the possession of thumb that
man owes his elevation above the brute!
With no more thumb than a monkey, he
would never have been able to make any
product representing an idea-and he would
have remained, to all intents and purposes,
beast. Apropos Of the subject we are talking
about, / take it that no reasonable person,
devoid of prejudices, can look upon the mere
skeletons of q man and chimpanzee, side by
side, without having forced upon him the
conviction that such a likeness of structure
could only be accounted for by unity of
derivation"
(Which then, do you claim that your
greatest grandfather was, q monkey or a
frogw
young man, that is foolish question:
implying strange ignorance. Mr.. Darwin
did not teach, as is vulgarly supposed, that
the human kind is descended from the ape;
his theory, which is still held by nearly all
scientific men, was that ape and man came
from the same primary ancestral source
How else, pray, are you going to account for
The similarity in almost every detail of their
nakeupl'
'And the frogi"
1.-The frog recognize as cousin, too. He
is a very agreeable relative - especially
broiled. 1t is not because we have an a,nphi
bous greatest grandfather in common, how
ever, that / respect him most; but for the
reason that e has contributed so largely to
scientific research. In fact, the likeness he
bears to the human species has been great
misfortune to him. On account of it, the
sxperimenter in physiology is continually
trying to find out what he can do without
his brain, or his legs, or his insides. The
demonstration of anatomy cuts him up to
show the beautiful structure Of his muscles,
or the circulation of his blood, while the ex-
pert in toxicology tries the effects of all sorts
Of poisons upon him, and, when he has finally
succumbed and given up the ghost, the cleo
trcian applies the galvanic battery to his
stiffening limbs to make him do a corpse
dance You remember, l dare say, that
Galvani owed his wonderful discovery TO a
frog, whose skinned hind legs, prepared for
soup, lay beside an electrical machine at
which the inventor was working. By acct
dent, he touched the legs with the end of a
wire along which a powerful current was
passing, and they Immediately became franti
cally convulsed. Hence the development Of
galvauism."
Can frog get along at all, then, without
his brainf'
AN AUTOMATIC EXISTENCE.
Exceedingly well l saw frog the other
day that seemed to be in most excellent phys
been in alcohol for six months 1t had first
rate appetite, swallowing minnows that
were given it with the utmost readiness, and,
although it rarely moved, for the obvious
reason that it was not in . condition to think
about moving preliminarily, it could not very
well have any mental anxieties, and appeared
likely TO preserve sort of automatic exist
snce for an indefinite period"
..T,a fro, &c O cold bloodlj animal is bf
notr'
Yes; but ON the other hand he is exceed
ingly affectionate, and his heart is agitated
by such strong emotions that 4 continues &c
beat for seven or eight minutes after it ha,
been detached from his body"
lis the frog very inteligentT
1T is difficult to say; If you watch him
you can never tell what he is looking at
though he always appears TO be engaged IN
the deepest thought. Ny opinion is, how
ever, that his thoughts are chiefly confined to
dress. he il very exravagant about his
clothes; every week or two IL summer he has
> new suit-kicks of MS old garments hka
the clown in the pantomime-and appears IN
s fresh costume, with green coat and white
waistcoat, spick and span
Than, for ecoromy's sake, he proceeds to
no second hand clothing dealers among The
batrachians. Mr.. Frogs skin is covered with
water proof varnish, which e1udes from the
pores, and the spots on his back serve to
mark the flight Of time, increasing in num-
Der with the years Of his existence. he has q
great many enemies, besides man, which is
fortunate, since otherwise be would soon
overrun the earth. In old times there used
70 Re- nj Of rd han
know, % that whole tribes Of people would
be driven 70 migrate"
Il presume that you scarcely regard the
frog as SO near q relative as the Iaonkey In
figuring UP your family tree" suggested tie
newspaper man.
by no means replied the professor.
"You see, the ape bears not merely physical
resemblance 70 the human type, but very
close mental and even moral Likeness Pro
fessor Agassiz found complete resemblance
h>>wee-1 ehe mental faculties Of an infant and