New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-11
TIE LATEST "NISSING LINK"

The missing link appears 10 De sun WlSS-
inr It's latest representative or claimant is dis
credited. and will in all probability have to
retire into the evolutionary limbo along with
PathvblS and SchiZogcncS parasiticus Dr.
Dubois has made gallant fight for his fossil
protfs6 whom he has dubbed Pithecanihropus
crcctns But he has not yet Won it. and at tn"
prescnt time the contest seems to be going
against him Professor Nirchow. than whom
there are few higher authorize, in the world
today utterly refuses TO recognize the JavaneSc
bones and teeth as anything ut all eXtraorul-
nary. and urges against them arguments that
are bringing host of experts to the same way
of thinking Many Of the circumstances con-
ncctcl with Or Dubois's discovery must. IN
deed be rcckoncd as tending to discrrdt It's
importance Certainly they Justify refusal 10
accent the remains ~ those Of the missing
link until much more conclusive proof of their
character * such shall have been adduccd.
These bones were found in Poccnc strata OF
volcanic origin rcarranccd by iuvial action
First wisdom tooth WAS discovered and then,
several feet away from 1t. skullcap. The next
wear mrthc- research brought to light thigh
bone. many yards away from the others, ana
thnr. some yards from that. another tooth
Those were al. There were lots Of bones of
other creatures great and small. II deer and
hvrnas and what not but not another scrap or
the missing link" Yet from those four bones
Dr. Duboi, proceeded to reconstruct IAN AMI
mai that was extremely rare He named him
Pl,hcranthropis crcctus. AMI placed him. on
the genealogical tree on the branch which hthcr-
to has borne onl-' Homo sapicns ut point
midway between Homo and the divarrailon
If the branches which bear apes and gorllaS.
In other words. ne made of him the true miss
ing link" Ills reasons for this were. briefly
stated these: That the skull Judged by the
clp had m internal capacity about twice -
great rs that az anv known antilropoid ape that
the teeth rcscmhlcd those Of man AMI that The
thlrhbonc appeared from It's shape t. have be-
lonscd t. a creature which stood ami walked
erect
Professor Virchow, however. declares thar
the skucap is merely that Of 4 sibbon. and not
~ "A particularly intellectual gibbon ut that. The
,.cth MIGHT be- human. but they ar" rather too
large and thc.l cu>pS are nnmstakably simian
IN form. Finally. the ihlchbonc is too straight
20 have belonged 10 man, or to creature
more mnnlikc than existing apes. Taken To-
ecth,r the bones indicate a very large animal
with very small head. erect or scmi-,rect. but
not necessarily bit nearer the human type than
a e,hhon or gorilla. Buand this point Ger
ta!nly seems 10 the lay mind. not devoid OF
force II Is by /, means pr1ven that they all
belonged t. the same creature. Ih"y were
found. rs We hay, said. widely scattered among
countless other bones Of other animals. Dr.
Dubois himself thinks the animals persisted In
4 volcanic eruption. that heir manslcd bodies
were carried considerable distance by the
current of river and that finally they were
proved upon 10y crocodilo>. In such clrcum-
stances we may well wait for further proof be-
fore being convinced that these scattered frag-
mcnts were necessarily parts Of one skeleton.
Moreover. how did il happen that. among all
the creatures that perish I'll there. only one Iithc
c,uthronus crcctus was 10 hc found? Surely
thn missing link" must have been not solitary.
Lut multitudinuus Countless thousands of him
must have inhabited the world in some remote
50 completely vanished: Fossil remains Of other
creatures fish, flesh am fowl are plentiful: OF
creatures which existed long before his time.
contcmporancOusly with him and after him.
Many Of them are far smaller. slishtcr ana more
uorishablc than he Yet they have endured. in
countless numbers while he alone has vanished,
leaving not trace behind save these four doubt
ful. scattered bones. Surely. in such case
thcrc must have been something wrong with
tEr law of the survival of the iittcst. II may be.
of course that the missing link really did
exist Some day It's remains may be discovered.
beyond all question. As yet they have not been,
and the saying Of Darwin is still true: The
transitional forms arc not found"