Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1893-05-04
THE MISSING LINK.
Prof. Yirchow Says That 1t Is as Rsmot
From Discovery as Evor.

From Discovery as Evor.
We know that man existed In the
Quaternary epoch, that he lived
through long ages miserable and de-
pressed, while stone, wood, horn and
bone constituted the material OF his
arms and of his only instruments; we
are convinced that long interval
separated the age of stone from the age
of metals, and that only in particular
places was the use of stone immediate-
ly replaced by that Of metals. These
are the data which now make part OF
the general knowledge acquired by
civilized nations since the foundation
of the congress. But further studies
respecting the origin and the regions
whence the different branches of civili-
zation have sprung have advanced
relatively but very little. We seek in
vain for the "missing link" connecting
man with the monkey or any other
animal species.
"There exists definite barrier sep
arating man from the animal which
has not yet been effaced-heredity,
which transmits TO children the facul-
ties of their parents. We have never
seen monkey bring man into the
world, nor n man produce a monkey.
All men having simian appearance
are simply pathological variants. 1t
was generally believed few years ago
that there yet existed n few human
races which still remained in the primi-
tive inferior condition of their organiza-
tion. But all these races have been OBJ
jects of minute investigation, and we
know that they have an organization
like ours, often, indeed, superior to that
OF supposed higher races; thus, the
Eskimo head and the head of the TERRA
del Fuegians belong to the perfected
types Some races have the same
skulls very small, of about the
same volume as the microcephalous
skulls; for example, the inhabitants OF
the Andaman islands and the Veddahs
of Ceylon have been regarded as micro
cephalic. A more exact study has,
however. shown n difference between
them and the real microcephalic races.
The head of an Andaman islander or
of Veddah is very regular, only all its
parts are little smaller than among
men of the ordinary races. Naniceph.
alic heads dwarf, rs call them, have
none of those characteristic anomalies
that distinguish really microcephalic
heads. A single race, that of the
Orang-Sinaings and the Orang-Cekai
OF the peninsula of Malacca, still re-
mais unstuded. The single traveller
who has penetrated into the noun
tainous countries inhabited by
them, the bold Russian, Mix
lukho Maklai, has ascertained
that certain isolated individuals among
Simaings are small, and have curled
hair A new expedition has been sent
into that country to study the anthro-
pology of the Orang-Cckat, from which
| have recently received a skull and a
few locks Of hair; the stock is really q
black race with curly hair, the brach-
ycephalous head of which is distin-
guished by very moderate interior vol
ume, but it does not offer the most
trifing sign of bestial development.
Thus we are repulsed at every line of
the assault upon the human question.
All the researches undertaken with the
aim of finding continually in progressive
development have been without result.
There exists no proanthropos, nc man,
monkey, and the connecting link re-
mains phantom. IN Y. World