Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-05
Pithecanthropus Hunting in Far-M
Java. W,
EXPEDITIONS now BEING FORMED
The Vanderbilt Millions Fitting
Out One Party.
w H A T IS E X PEG TED
Written for The Evening Star.

Pithecanthropus hunting is quite the
latest and rarest sport to excite the enthu-
siasm of the rich. The Vanderbilt millions
are being drawn upon to equip an American
eap clifton for its pursuance. German
party wil1Aalso enter the chase at an early
date.
But who or what is pithecanthropus? In
the vulgar jargon of the laiety he is better
| known the plain, common, everyday
| missing link" He is that half-man half
ape creature long sought to fill the lament
ed gap in the Darwinian chain. He is to be
seriously sought in the far-off jungles of
Java, which science suspects to be the most
Promising field for his apprehension George
| Vanderbilt is to defray the expenses of the
American hunters, who will be led to the
field by David J. Walters of New Haven,
| Conn. The German party is being organiz-
ed by Prof. Ernest Haeckel, the eminent
naturalist of Jena.
| Now. Il pithecanthropus hunt would at
the very first blush appear to be perilous
learn whether the much-pr.zed ape~nan is
to be bagged trapped. lassoed or shot
whether he is to be captured dead or alive.
Tho very idea of his importation, alive,
within the pale of civilization suggests the
advent Of a second Frankensten monster
such as might, by dnt of semi brute force
an Seni-human genius break its confines
ana pay havoc Win our wives ana Da pies.
Perhaps it was with til,se qualnls that
the writer yesterday fastened to DIR Theo-
dnre ". Gill, the celebrated naturalist and
eNo'utionist, and found that genial gentle
man in his UNCOVERED tower room in the
much-b be pinnacled Smithsonian.
"Of course these expeditions hope to find
only the fossil remains Of pthecanthropus."
said the dictor. They are going to make
their researches i'll Java because 1t was
there that DIR. Eugene Dubois, Dutch
army surgeon and paleontologIst. recently
found partial remains Of what many nat
uralists believe to have been a creature in
termediate between ape and man. Dubois
made the discovery on the bank Of the
Banga wan near Trini in the central part
of the island. The remains lay in a bed of
RI OK thirteen or fifteen yards below the
vegetable soil. They consisted of the up
per portion OF Il skull, two mOlar teeth and
Il thigh bone. From the size Of the skull
it has been Judged that the brain of the
creature must have been greater than that
OF any ape Yet found and too small for
any human being-that IS. il proportion
to the size Of the body as indicated by the
other remains. The teeth have been pro-
nouECed as similar t. those of man in that
they are hollow at the crown. yet ike
those Of the ape in that they divcrge at
the roots. The thigh bone indicates that
the creature walked in an upright position
in the posture of Il man. The name pi-
thecanthropIS, which from it's Greek deri-
Walton. means ''anc-mau,' was first used in
1865 by Prof. Haeke. The full technical
name now Is Dlt.-.ctliL Hlpl}tiS tlttluS, i'll
other wards, AN ape-man standing erect"
Hundreds of Tnousands Of y ars Old.
Dubois found The pithecant hropus bones
il earth deposits REPRESENTING tie tertiary
age or geologic period. This fact indicates
that the animal lived ard died during lat
time which was hundreds OF thousa nds-
perhaps less than a rnillon-years ago
How long WAS probably required for
the complete change from ape to MANI"
"A couple of hundred thousand years
was sufficient time, ! should think. 1t is not
probable that the civilization of which we
learn from the earliest records could have
been attained until after man had been on
earth over 10000 years. The historic
period goes back probably 1890 or 5000
years from the present.
Was this change from ape to man prob
ably taking place at various parts OF the
earth at the same time?
1T probably occurred III one limited area.
It was so gradual that it would have been
impossible for one living during this time
to have determined which creature was
ape and which was man. 1t was Simply
the result of innate tendency to vary In
q particular direction, tendency which
manifested itself in. this single area. Con-
ditions were favorable to the DEVELOPMENT
Advantages were furnished to the being
with new attributes. Then there was the
result that the race thus propagated rapid
ly spread over the neighboring lands, in a
comparatively short time, seologically
spe aking.
I'VE will suppose that back in these
ages there was an ape, like the present
chimpanzee, which exhibited superior intel
ligence and learned to fight with sticks or
clubs rather than with tooth and nail
This new faculty he transmitted to his des
scerdants, who developed shorter arms
more efficient for the new mode of warfare
Those having the shorter arms, therefore,
survived and multiplied in the struggle for
lfe The canine teeth were less used and
on this account became smaller ana reduced
to a level with the others. The gaps be
tween the teeth gradually closed as the |
jaws used less for fighting. grew smaller. |
reduced and the ridges which held them to |
the skull became less prominent. AS this |
superior intelligence developed. the brain |
and it's cavity grew larger. AS the arms |
grew shorter the legs became more and |
more convenient for lCcomotion, and thus |
was the erect posture developed. Inc ape |
ancestor, Of course, had no tail; hence that |
thropus in any stage Of his development.
The Probable Home.
do you believe Java to be the proper |
place to seek pithecanthropus? If you were
to set out to find him, would you go there |
first?'
Were to go out and look for pithecan- |
thropus my only guide would be the knowl-I
edge Of where probable specimens had been |
already found. L would go in their neigh !
bOrhoOd.
This area in which was evolved |
from the ape ] believe to have been India. |
anu I include Java under the general head |
of India. In the late tertiary of India there |
KAISER WILHELM IN