The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1901-01-17
SCIENTISTS ARE SEEKING
MISSING LINK IN JAVA

Two expeditions are now being organ
lied to hunt I'm Java for remains OF the
pitheeanthropus, better known AS the
ature long sought to fill the gap in the
Dsrwinian chain.
George Vanderbilt is to defray the ex-
penses OF an American party, which viii
be led by David J. Walters of New Hs-
ven, Conn a German party Is being or
ganized by Professor Ernst Haeckel the
eminent naturalist of Jena.
DIR. Theodore y. Gin Of the Smithson-
ian institution gives the following In
formation concerning the aims aud hopes
of the promoters of the expeditions:
"Of course these expeditions hope TO
find only the fossil remains OF pithe-
canthropus." he said.
They are going to make their re-
searches i'm Java, because II WIS there
that Dr. Eugene Dubois a Dutch army
surgeon. and paleontologoist. recently
found partial remains of what many
naturalists believe 10 have been cre-
ture intermediate between ape and man.
Dubois made the discovery on the
bank of the Bsngawan, near TriniL In
the central part of the island. The re-
mains lay In bed OF rock thirteen
yards below the vegetable soil. They con-
sisted of the upper portion OF skull,
two molar teeth. and thigh bone
From the size Of the skull IL has been
judged that the brain of the creature
must have been greater than that OF
any ope yet found and too small for
any human beins-that is, In proper
tion to the size of the body as indicated by
the other remains. Hh
The teeth have been pronounced Eifni-
lar To those of man in that they are
hollow at the crown, yet like those OF
the ape in that they deverge at the roots.
The thigh bone indicates that the crea-
ture walked in an upright position-in the
posture OF a man. hA
CHANGE FROM APE TO MAN
"The name pithecanthropus, which,
from it's Greek derivation. means ape
man, was first used i'm 1868 by Professor
Haeckel. The full technical name now
is pithecanthropus erectus. In other
words. an ape man standing erect
Dubois found the pithecanthropus
bones I'm earth deposits representing
the tertiary age or geologic period.
This fact indicates that the animal lived
and died during that time. hundreds of
thousands OF years ago"
How long was probably required for
"A couple of hundred Thousand years
was sufficient time. should think.
II is not probable that sthe civilization
of which we learn from the earliest re
cords could have attained until after
man had been on earth more than l0O
600 years The historic period goes back
probably 5000 or 5000 years from the
present"
WAS this change from ape TO msn
probably taking place at various parts
Of the earth at the same timer
1T probably occurred IN one limited
area " was 80 gradual that IL would
have been impossible for one living
during this time TO determine which
creature was ape and which was man.
1T was simply the result Of an innate
tendency TO vary in a particular direc-
tion. a tendency which manifested Itself
I'm this single area Conditions were
favorable to the development
Advantages were furnished 10 the be-
ing with new attributes. Then there
was the result that the race thus pro-
pagated rapidly spread over the neigh
boring lands an n comparatively short
time geologically speaking.
we will suppose that back iu these
ages there was an ape. like the present
chimpanzee. which exhibited superior
intelligence and learned go fight with