Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-03-03

1t may be magined-such a notion
being not in the least improbable-that
the first really man-like monkey and
his wife resided in the neighborhood Of
Manila. They We're exceptionally clever
people for anthropoids ana they had
reason to be proud Of themselves mas
much as they were-if they had only
known 1.-THE superiors. intellectually
and otherwise, of all other existing ami
mails In word, they were ut the tip
top Of the geological heap. OF course
they lived in Il tree-a very convenient
kind Of domicile under primitive condi-
lions. by reason Of the protection it
gives against enemies. while affording
a large outlook All Of the great man
like monkeys today. such as the Chin
panZce ana orang, seek safety in trees.
But this particular pair had less trouble
to get along in the world than their
siman acquaint anCcS. because they
were smarter: they We're more clever at
procuring ANA storing food supplies.
ana the gentleman Of the household
knew how to use club.
The first human-like family incrc aSed
rapidly. ana soon spread over 4 wild"
territory, bong much helped toward
survival by the superior cleverness and
prowesS of its members. From genera
ton to generation. they improved,
physically and mentally. Their arms
grew shorter, their legs longer. ana
their brain-pans bigger. until at length
the type represented by the bones dug
up in central .JaVa-the PitheCanthro-
pus crcctus, or upright monkcy-m
as scientists have named the animal WI
. was evolved. Here at last was the drS-
tined ancestor Of the monlley-likc
Ncgritos of LuZon.
All of this took n great length of
time. and hundreds of thousands 81
years may have elapsed. dating from
the first human-lkc pair, before there
came into existence that wonderful
species of ape, called by science Homo
sapiens. The earliest man. it is true,
was covered with hair; but 50 likewise
is his modern descendant. though the
hirsute covering of the latter has been
reduced for the most part to a slight
down. AS for tail, he had none-at ali
events, no more than what is possess q
in the way Of caudal appendage by an
average human being today. For
strange though it may seem. the large
have less tail actually than man: and,
II we ranked ourselves among the
mammals by the tail alone, we would
have to take second place, the great
anthropoids enjoying the first.
Now, this early man. like his anthrO
poid progenitors, lived in trees. finding
such an abode convenient for the same
reason as they did. And one reason for
assuming this to have been the fact is |
that the human baby of today. which |
in many physical points is monkey-like |
for example. in respect to its over
long arms and over-ShOrt legS-has feet
so formed as to indicate the tree climb
ing habit, the joint of the ankle being
so arranged that the foot can be turned |
inward, while the big toe is almost as
independent in its movements as that
of the ape. Attention has often been
called to the wonderful way in which
the youngest infants are able to hang
from sticks. supporting their own
weight for a long time, just as monkeys
do in trees The Australian native
one of the most primitive of human be-
ings. who climbs as an ape does
possesses this accomplishment.
OF course there is no telling whether
earliest man did actually originate in
the Philippines. in Java or in Sumatra:
but the birthplace of his kind was
somewhere in that neighborhood. ac-
cording to the view of DR.. Becker and
Professor Marsh. The land-bridge to
Asia, by way of Borneo, afforded facil-
tiles of travel and for The spread of the
newly developed species Of anthropoid.
who, though truly human, was pure
beast-a monkey with a bigger brain.
His weapons We're stones and branches
broken from trees. Living in the