The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-30
THE DESCENT OF MAN.
PROF. COPE's DISCOVERIES RE
PLACING ALL OF THE MISSING
LINKS.

Prof Edward Drinker Cope Of the Uni
versity Of Pennsylvania. traces nine an
/ cestors OF man back 10 unknown and I'M
named fishes in the paleozoic age. in the
/ light Of Investigations Of modern science,
/ largely his own. and also establishes the
succession Of type Of man since his APP
/ pearance as a creature Of intelligence. No
/ coherent account Of the descent Of men.
/ understandable by ordinary minds. has
/ heretofore been published. nor have the
I Investigations Of scientists been sufficient
| ly advanced hitherto to be able to announce
/ positively such descent. The words of
Prof. Cope may therefore be taken as the
/ most important announcement Of scientific
| discoveries Of modern times.
Prof. Cope has earned a world wide
reputation as a scientific scholar. He car
/ ries in his head, instantaneously ready for
/ use at any time, and under any circum-
stances, large vocabulary Of Latin and
Greek scientific names of species, hun
dreds Of which he has coined and brought
| into general use. Wherever there is
scientific society in the world, Prof Cope's
name is found in the list of honorary mem
bers, and on him have been bestowed the
most honorable medals for scientific re-
search. Owing to examinations of the
craniums of thousands of mammals, eXis-
tent anu tAlllGLs ana MS careful compare
son Of their dentitiOn, ne has been able TO
make the most profound discoveries on
the origin and descent of man. He is the
author of numerous and voluminous
works, one of them as large as Webster's
international Dictionary. After some
preliminary talk, during which he ex-
pressed some Discrimination TO give out the
results of his Investigations in other than
the regular scientific channels, he CON
scented to speak freely regarding his dis
coveries and those Of others, accepted as
bearing on the descent and ascent of
man.
When we speak of the ancestor Of
man" he said, we refer to the animal in
the preceding age whAch most nearly re-
sembled man The ancestor of this ami
NAL is the one in the age preceding it
which most nearly resembled it in impor-
tant particulars. This explanation is nee
essary because of the monstrosites in
the way of views on the subject put forth
by the clergy and laity on matter con-
corning which they have given no intelli-
gent study. These gentlemen would have
us think that scientists would have US be-
heve that modern ape was somehow
converted into man. No scientific man
has ever advanced such a theory.
"A million years ago, for instance, a
modern man could not have existed on this
earth, for the obvious reason that the
AdtH Was llol SulutituLlN advanced. Inc
animals existing at that time were such as
could maintain an existence on the earth
as it was then. The highest type of ami
NAL then in existence was undoubtedly
an ancestor of man. His skull had some
of the eharac teristics of man. He may
have walked on four feet, but his hind
feet somewhat resembled the feet of men,
and his. forefeet somewhat resembled the
hands of men. He may not have had
beefsteaks for breakfast, but he was
cmnivorous, and his teeth and his stom-
ach might have possibly handled a beef
steak. He undoubtedly had sufficient in
telligence to appreciate modern course
dinner If he could have got one.
LAS the progenitor of the human race
had powers Of observation, he was famil-
lar with the ancestor of the present
horse, an animal with hoof and two dew
claws, smaller than the present beast Of
burden, but with sufficient characters
tics of the horse to have nipped and di-
gested the grass of that period. Had an
ancestor of this ancestor had sufficient
powers of observation he might have
noted the beginning or a remarkable ret
degradation in nature, the exact oppo-
site Of evolution. He might possibly have
noted a common ancestor, from which
evolved the dog family on the one hand,
and from which refrigerated the bear fam
lily on the other. These statements
should, I think make simple the whole
theme of evolution. the progress by which
the earth, through cycles of time, grew
from an inert mass into a beautiful habi-
tation, on which the sunlight streamed
until there was a prolific provision for
the highest human intelligence"
Prof Cope then continued and delineated
the ancestors of man in the order of sue
cession. He said:
81. The anthropoid, or manlike ape. This
mammal was an inhabitant of the neogene
period. He was one ofthe simiidae, or
great apes, with the great toe opposable,
in contradistinction to the hominidae or
human family, which succeeded him, hay
ing the great toe directed forward.
go The anthropoid, or manlike, lemur
He was an inhabitant of the eocene period
He was one of the anaptomorphidae, fam
| lily of lemurs having anthropid, or man.
like dentition. The lemurs are small an
| inals, allied to the monkeys, with fox
faces and large eyes. Types of them are
still found in Madagascar.
"3.-The pseudo, or false lemurs, inhabi-
| tants of the eocsne period and belonging
| to the family of adapidae. The false le-
murs were a primitive branch of the un-
| gulates, or hoofed animals in general. The
adapidae were a family of quadrumana
| between the lemurs and the coudylarthra,
| or primitive hoofed placental mammals
| "a. The lowest types of ungulates OF
| hoofed animals, come next, comprising the
| condylarthra, primitive hoofed placental
| animals found in the Puerco beds, belong
| ing to the earliest eocene age, in North
| western New Mexico. They were derived
| from the creodonta, primitive clawed pla-
| Genital mammals with carnivorous teeth
| found in the earlier Laramie (Wyoming)
| cretaceous beds. From the condylarthra
were descended all of the ungulates while
the creodonta were the ancestors of all the
! clawed mammals.
| IS. The pantotheria, forms between the
| creodonts and carnivorous marsupials
| (mammals which carry immature young
in pouches), come next. They We're some
thing like opossums, and have been found
in the jurrasic formations of the middle
mesozoic age.
SO. Still lower and next in order are the
protodonta, closely allied to carnivorous
reptiles, found in the still older triassic
formations of the mesozoic age. The
proaodonta were forms between the mar.
supials or monotremes, and the theromor-
GUS reptiles.
-. AS we proceed further upward in the
line of the ancestry of man, the next link
of the chain is found in the theromorous
reptiles of the permain, or closing, period
of the carboniferous age and paleozoio
era. Theromorous reptiles are those
WAs IL