Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-15

Jack we come to forms that would be es-
sentially like marsupials pouched AMI
mals), but very different from any now liv.
Ing and beyond these to forms that agreed
structurally with the modern Australian
duckbill and with the miscalled anteater
of the same continent These earliest an
cestors of ours had a very peculiar breast
bone and number of accessory bones like
those of reptiles, but different from any
found in higher animals. They. also had
a small brain, with the cerebral portion
much smaller in proportion to other parts
than in any of the familiar mammals. In
fact their brain Appropriated that of
reptile. They also had eggs of cons der
able size, which they layed and Matched
duckbill of the present day. There forms
were the lowest Of mammals.
Going back beyond the mammals I be-
leve mans next ancestors to have been
certain reptiles amphibians (animals
living both on land and in water). These
amphibians were descended from fishes.
These fish ancestors of man were very. dif-.
ferent from any modern forms. The near
est approximation to them Is to be- found
in the 'bichir, of the Nile and In certain
species of Africa, South America and Aus
tralia,- known as dipnoans. - -e
ITO go further back we would be con-
fronted with vista of interminable length
through soft bodied>forms extremely diff
ferent from anything now living. but re-
sembling somewhat a 'lancelet-a skull-less
translucent vertebrae now living in the
sand of the seashore, in temperate and
t. 'pical regions-or a !; tunicate, or sea
squirt which we find; attached to stones
and shells. Mans further, ancestry is lost
in an indefinite and innumerab1e series of
worm-hke animals belonging to. the ear
Hest period of our earth's history:
Where probably, was man developed
from the ape form ~ 49, d.
81, Man may have originated either In Asia
or in Africa: but more likely In tropical
Asia.-~His relations were, there. Although
his nearest relatives now living are the
A rin chi nd Ia fhora ga
lived In India an ape of similar kind and
probably nearer in the line of our ancestry
than, any of the African species: Apes and
other <highly-dev eloped mammals now re-
Parded, characteristic of Africa were
probably late corners into Africa. in a
geologic sense. The burden of scientific
evidence. as see it, therefore, is that the
cradle of the race was in Asia, as tradition
Las stated"
Probable Home of the Missing Link.
Where, most likely, will the remains Of
strue. missing link be found?'
In Asia. most probably. 1t would be use
!. IS and unseientifc to expect 20 find it in
Europe, much less America for man must
have taken on his manlike shape long be-
fore wandering into northern regions or
before straying outside the old world. 1t
would require considerable skill to recognize
the missing link if found
How would you identify it?"
by brain case less developed than In
man Of the present time, but more so than
in the ape; by a rudimentary condition or
absence of the ridges and crests on the skull
for supporting the muscles of the lower
jaw; and by teeth, especially CANNES. less
developed in size than in the ape Tie re-
naming bones are essentially the same in
man and in the ape"
How did the missing link appear, prob
ably, in life?'
"In general, as an intermediate form be-
tween the African negro md the chimpan-
zee. To go into details, 1t would depend
upon the stage of his transition. In the
early stage he would be bow-legged, with
lower limbs short and arms long In a later
stage his arms would be reduced nearly
to their present length, while his legs would
be straighter and better developed. Were