The Portland daily press., 1899-11-25

All Of this took great length Of time,
ana hundreds Of thousands Of years may
have elapsed. dsting from the drss
human-like pair, before there came into
existence that wondsrfui Species Of ape,
called BY science Homo sapiens The ear
lest man, ft is true, vas covered with
hair. but 50 likewise is his modern do.
soendant. though the hiIsute covering OF
the Iattsr has been reduced for the mos.
part TO q slight down As for tail, be
had none-at all events, no more than
what IL possessed in the way uf caudal
today. For, strange though IL may seem.
the large apes, such as the gorilla aud
oranx, have less tall actually than man I;
and. 81 we RANKED ourselves among the
mammals by the tsil alore. we would
have to take second place, the great an
thropoids enjoying the first
poid progenitors lived In trees, finding
such an abode convcnient for ths sumo
RS aeon ne they did. And one reason for
Assuming thia TO hAvs been the fact Ia
that the human baby OF today, which
In many ply sieal points IL mon key like
for example, IN respect 70 its o'sr-iong
formed as to indicate the tree-climbing
habit. the Joint Of the ankle being SO ar
ranged that the foot can be turned In
ward, while the big toe 10 almost as inde-
d n lent In lite movements as that OF the
ape. Attention has often been called TO
the wonderful way in which the young
est infants ara abls to hang from sticks,
supporting thsir own we ghs for . long
time, Just as monkeys d } In trees. The
A australian native-one Of the most pfim-
Tive OF human beings, who climbs as an
age does--possesses this accomplishments.
OF course there Ia no telling whsther
earliest man did actually orig ginate In the
phtItuniraa In lava IN Gumatra. hut
the birthplace Of this kind was ssms-
where In that neigh borhood, according 10
the view of DE. Becker and Profss s)r
Marsh. The lind bridge 10 Asia. by way Of
Eorneo. afforded facilities Of travel and
for the spread OF the newly developed
species Of anthropoid who. though truly
human, was pure Dsast--a nonksy wita
. bigger brain. His weapons were stones
and branches broken from trecs. Living
In the tropics, hs never felt the need Of
clothing, ana he did not understand the
use OF fire. His descendants, learning
by slow degrees the use OF tools, were
enabled to improve their condition and
developed gradually into creatures Of
reason.
A million years or 50 ago, according to
DR.. Becker, the Philippines consisted
largely of swamps and sballsw seas.
There was an imnsnse. ...luxurisnce Of
tropical plant growth In the swampy
BILE debris were eventually covered with
mud AMI transformed into kind OF coal
called salignits," which today 10 probably
the most valuable mine:al asset OF the
Am srican India. At length there came
crumpling and uphsaval OF ths e,rtb's
crust, so tremendous as to bs felt all the
way from Switzerland to the HimtlayAs,
where the bott om Of the ocean WAS up
lifted into mountains three miles above
sea level. Indeed, the strata represent
ing these ancient marine beds are now
found In the Himalayas at an elevation
Of 10, 600 feet The Philippines shared In
this upiift, which also formsd the land
bridge to Asia already mentioned.
Across this land bridge from the maiu-
land came all sorts Of animals to the ar
ohipslAgo. and In . later age they wers
out of from returning by general sub
sidenoe of the islands. The latter sank
s, much, indeed, that ths group was
reduced to . mere sprsnkling OF nilly Is
lets, four Of which existed within the
Cebu was completely submerged. At this
time there began a series OF volcanic
eruptions, mostly submarine, which
threw up great amount VI matsTial
from the bowels Of the earth, thus adding
largely to the land area, and about ten
thousand years ago there came anesner
uplift. which raised the archipelago to its
believed, however, that the Islands ars
still rising gradually, occasional earth
quAkes being merely jars Incidental o.
the allow pro3sss of slsvAtion. Ihe vol
oanic phenomena have not Jet ceased. In
1897 there WAS = violent eruption OF
Mayor In southsra Luzon, whioh !. TIE
most: beautifully symmstrioai Volcanic
RENE BACHE.