The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-28
WAS A MONKEY MAN.
CREATURE BETWEEN HUMAN AND
APE FOUND IA VOLCANIC
STRATA.

tEre IL Was-It Walked Upright
and Had a Brain.
From the PittsbuTg Dispatch.
Washington. June 20.-Sensational tales
Of the discovery OF the Missing Link
the creature which evolutionists believe
10 have once fit the gap between man and
ape. in the Darwinian chain-have fire.
quently come TO US from untrustworthy
explorers travelling in the wilds Of Asia
and Africa. Such testimony, unaccom-
panied by documentary evidence, has al
ways been swallowed with divers grains
OF salt by scientists. The latest of these
interesting stories, however, comes from
no less a parsonage than one Of Americas
most distinguished naturalists-whose
words are said TO be always carefully
weighed before uttered.
This naturalist is Prof. O. c. Marsh of
New Haven. He recently brought to
Washington for exhibition to his fellow
naturalists, the plaster reproduction of a
portion Of the remains Of the strange crea-
tire which he believes to have been the
Missing Link" The original remains
We're recently found by Dutch army sur
geon and paleOntolOgist named Dr. Eugene
Dubois. Dr. Dubois has been stationed in
Java for several years, and some time
ago, while excavating for fossil vetebrates
ne unearthed the portion OF a skull, the
whole thigh bone and two molar teeth Of
the animal in which Prof. Marsh is inter-
ested. During a recent trip to South Hol-
land, IN company with several noted Eu-
fOpean naturalists, Prof. Marsh met DR.
DUBOIS, and was permitted to thoroughly
examine the remains of the alleged Mis-
sing Link" Subsequently, on his return
to this country, he received from the dis
coVerer the plaster cast of the creatures
skull.
AS a result of Prof. Marsh's examina-
ton, he believes that the bones are those
of the same creature and that this was
an individual not human, but interme-
date between man ana higher apes. DR..
Dubois, he says, discovered the remains
in the bank of the river Bangawan, near
IriniL, In the central part of the island.
The bones lay in bed of lapiliirock from
about lS to Is yards below the surface of
the vegetable soil Of the bank, and a
slight distance below the river level at
OF the skull. Prof Marsh says, the up
per portion is alone preserved, and the
lower and more delicate parts haVing
probably crumbled away centuries agS
The two teeth are the molars Belonging
TO a full-grown, but not very old ami
mai The thigh bone is from the left
side. The professor says he was greatly
surprised on seeing the original speci-
mems. They were evidently much older
than the descriptions he had previously
received from DR.. Bubois. All were OF
q dark color and thoroughly petrihed
II had been dlncult to remove the sur
rounding earth, which, during the ages
elapsing since the creature died, had
completely turned to solid rock.
The brain cavity of the MISSING
Links" skull, Prof. Marsh says, in pro-
portion to the other remains, is abso,
lutely larger and more capacious than
that Of the manlike ape. The skull ca
pacity, at the same time. he estimates
TO be about two-thirds that Of man Ex>
ternally the skull appears much larger
than that of the manlike apes. The arch
lug of the top of the head Is much higher
and more rounded than that Of the lat
Ter animal. From top view the Uranium
IS an elongated oval in outline, and un-
Ike that Of the ape-narrew In proper
ton to its length.
This narrowness would distinguish the
animal from the orang outang, which is
decidedly broad headed. The outside sur
face Of the skull is smooth like that of
man without the ridges OF bone which
hold in place the strong muscles of the
jaw, as always found upon the gorilla.
The general front of the skull, however,
me the professor says, resembles that of the
little gibbon monkey.
The left thigh bone is of the same size
and shape as that Of nan, and is there
fore, proof that the strange creature walk
ed in an upright position. No ape, no
matter how maulike, was ever known to
walk upon two legs. Only a careful ex-
animation of this leg bone, the naturalist
says, would distinguish 1t from that of
man. It's owner and user was a fully
adult individual. AS to the two molar
teeth, he says, they resemble those of man
yet their roots diverge like those of the
ape. The geological strata in which the
bones were found Prof. Marsh believes to
be the Pliocene, the most recent of the
divisions of the tertiary.
Presenting that Prof. Marsh's theory is
= correct, many interesting deductions
might be made concerning the Missing
Link, which has been christened by its
ttrfa ~ y
or, more literally, the monkey-man. To
be sure,he was more imposing individual
for evolutionists to claim as a direct an
cestor than are his own ancestors of the
ape family. Although but one fossil skel-
eton representing his kind is alleged to
have been found, It would be unsafe to
assume that he was the sole representa-
tive of his tribe. Perhaps Java at one
t.me-tens of thousands of years ago-was
inhabited by a great nation Of Pitheean-
thropidea yet to be unearthed in the rocks
since formed by the dust of ages.
If, as suggested, PithecanthrOpus lived
in the aftermost period of the tertiary, he
belonged to that age during which the
great mountain chains of the globe had
been uplifted. The gigantic reptiles which
once roamed the earth and infested the
seas were fast becoming extinct, as has
the bison and few other forms even in
this generation. Insects, birds and beasts
were fast separating into different species,
and the animal brain was increasing in
volume and complexity.
We might imagine Pithecanthropus to
have been mostly covered with hair, thick
er upon the upper and rear portions of the
head than upon the trunk and limbs. His
Jaws were more prominent than those of
the lowest negro whom we now know, and
his brldgeless nose lay almost fiat upon
his face. His head was narrower than that
of the average man of to-day. His eyes
rolled in large orbits. If he was a laugh
ing animal, when he smiled he doubtless
displayed a set of strong teeth, protruding
outward from the gums, further apart
rhan those of man. Over each eye there
was a bump. From this his low forehead
in all probab ility, first curved slightly
) downward, for an inch or more afterward
sloping upward with profile which form
ed rather a shallow semi-c!rcle. with the
center at the ear. His body, perhaps, was
slightly larger in proportion than man 5,
though less symmetrical, and tailless.
According to the theories Of the most
trustworthy naturalists, the tail was worn
off in the grind of evolution preceding the
manlil1e ape, which has even less of tail
than manhimself The arms Of Pithecan-
thropus were probably longer than mans
- His legs We're probably slightly shorter
His hands and feet were doubtless larger
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