Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-03-04

ldLo TERTIARY VI Hula IuSI0 existed a
genus ape to which the chimpanzee.
belonged. 1t is very possible that
man was evolved from his stock AL
though mans nearest relatives now
living are the African chimpanzee and
gorilla, that old ape of India was prob
than any of the African species. The
latter were, in a geologic sense. prob
ably late corners into Africa. 1t
would be useless to seek pithecan-
thropus in Europe. Moreover, there
was never a tribe of such creatures in
America. Man had perfectly de-
veloped before he came to this CONT
nent. The first man in America was
not very different from man as found
here today. In the course of time
everything varies, and man has I'M
doubtedly varied in color and
physique from his ancestral parents
who came to America The first man
to reach our shores from Asia arrived
ten or twenty thousand years ago,
roughly guessing"
rs it not braely possible that live
pithecanthropus may some time be
found upon earth?'
mo. The evolution from ape to
man is not now in progress as it used
to be. The struggle for existence has
crowded out all intermediate links be-
tween ape and man. The pithecan-
thropi which originally occupied the
same ground with early man did not
have the intelligence successfully to
compete with him in the struggle for
existence. But the ape proper con-
tinued to live in the regions hostile to
man. Had they occupied territory
necessary or favorable to man they
would have long been out of existence,
as they practically now are, except in
limited parts of Africa and Borneo.'
Suppose the Vanderbilt and
Haeckel expeditions were to find
live pithecanthropus; how would he
look?"
THAT would depend upon the stage
of his transition. If representing an
early stage he would be bow-legged
and have short lower limbs and long
upper limbs. If representing a later
stage his legs would appear straighter
and better developed; his arms almost
as short as mans. He would have
considerable hair on his body and be-
tween it would be seen his black skin.
His Uranium or brain cavity would be
larger and deeper than that of the
ape, but smaller and more shallow
than that OF man. His jaws would be
more prominent than those of the
most savage man, but less SO than
those of the ape, while the size of his
teeth the gaps between them and the
ridges which hold the jaw muscles to
the skull would likewise be less than
in the ape and greater than in man.
His nose would be bridgeless and
would lie fiat upon his face. His eyes
would roll in large orbits, Over each
eye he would probably have prOmi-
nence from which his low forehead
would slope suddenly backward to
form the beginning of a shallow semi
circle"
do you think that these Pithecan-
cessful?"
IF there could be found in Java
few remains such as Dubois seems to
have discovered there should be more
in the neighborhood. The difficulty
is that in these tropical regions ami
NAL remains soon disappear, and it is
only under exceptional conditions that
they are preserved. Yet there are in
existence fossil skeletons millions of
years old. i, is quite possible that we
may yet find remains representing all
the conditions intermediate between
ape and man. This may result from
systematic search. It may be found
cient ape whose remains have been
found in India 1t must be remem
bered that the chimpanzee, SO nearly
related to our ape ancestors, is still
living
ITO be convinced that any of the
remains found are those of genuine
what bones do you
want to see brought back by the
searchers ?"
Especially a good skull, whole
if possible. | would like to
see the pelvis, also. The more bones
the better, of course. The trouble
with the remains found by Dubois is
that they are too few to guide one to
a definite opinion. Other than the
Dubois remains there has been none
seriously considered as representing
none which scien-
tifc men could so consider with much
reason. Remains found in the Mean
der valley of Prussia in 1857 repre-
sented a creature with very low brain
capacity. Yet he might have been
either a savage or a philosopher In
other words. there is no definite ratio
between mere size of brain and de-
of intellect Of course you
wouldn't find great intellectual de-
in the microcephalic or
idiot But normal men
with small heads and brains often
have very accurate and powerful in
tellects."