The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-08-02

~ covered about the animal king
dom. not the least Interesting be-
ing the various courtship customs of
several species. An English natural
list, w 4. Pycraft, who Is a well known
authority. has just published book on
this subject through Henry Holt K
Company entitled The Courtship OF
Animals"
We are none OF US. he says given to
boasting OF our poor relations and most
Of us Indignantly repudiate our kinship
with the apes. But facts are stubborn
things: the relationship Is there,
whether we admit 1t or not; and those
who love truth for truths sake will not
shirk the comparison between them
selves and their remote cousins. I'M
happily, from our present point of view.
this cannot be carried very far, for the
love idylls" of the apes have yet to
he written. Such facts, however, as
have been CLEANED are interesting OF
the higher, manllke, or "anthropoid"
species only the most meagre Informal
ton is TO be obtained, but this never
theless Is interesting. For the most
part we have to be satisfied with in-
ferences drawn from a study Of the exc
tcrnal differences between the sexes
from the secondary sexual char
acters." in short, and from the records
Of travellers who have encountered
these creatures in their native wilds.
The species which throw most light
on this theme are the gorilla the chin
panzce and the orang-utan. OF these
the chimpanzee has most in common
with the human race. But It may
satisfy the quams of many to know
that between the ape and the man there
is a great gulf fixed. The brain Of the
largest ape Is less than half the size Of
that even of the lowest of mankind.
Man is reasoning and for the most
part reasonable creature. he IS a
tool making animal. This is more than
can he said of any of the apes, even the
most intelligent. Their teeth and i'm
mensely powerful arms must serve their
every need. No ape ever fashioned tor
himself either "A knife, "A vessel to carry
water or any means of transport, and
herein We have measure of his brain
capacity. The huge jaws and great
canine teeth are no less conspicuous
marks Of the beast"
These. however, man himself has but
recently lost, as was proved hy the
sensational discovery of the skull of an
apelike man at Pitdown, in Sussex,
during 1912. Herein the jaw was es-
sentially that of an ape, while the base
OF the skull was as markedly human.
The cheek teeth, or moiars. were of the
human type; but the canine were ape
like, though much inferior in point OF
size. That the men Of this remote age
which was possibly that of Plelocene
times and certainly not later than early
Pleistocene-had begun to use rudey
fashioned tools is proved by the roughly
Clipped fints found with the remains.
with the invention of tools the decline
in the size of his EYE" teeth began.
or the normal everyday life of the
great apes but little is known. 1t would
SEEM however, that they live in family
parties-an adult male accompanied by
female and one or more young of
different ages. of which one is COM
monty an Infant in arms. 1t is difficult
to procure positive evidence on this
point, hut 1t is commonly believed that
the young remain with their parents till
they are several years old. when they
are gradually driven off to fend for
themselves. This is n common pro-
cedure with all animals. The dominant
impulse in this Is something akin to
greediness, an ndehnable perception
that too large a family party will entail
too great n strain on the food supply,
are regarded as a danger to the safety
of the family and are turned adrift
incidentally this proc, durc is of i'm
mense benefit TO the race, for ii insures
It's distribution, enlarges its chances Of
survival and lessons the danger of in
breeding.
Among the apes we meet. as with the
human species, with both monogamy
and pOlygamy. But it would be dan
gerous to assume that the reasons for
polygamy are the same in both. rolyg-
amy indeed has by no means always
the same significance. In the most
primitive. half human races Of the past
as with the manlike apes to-day, polyg-
amy is determined by accident rather
than choice. These extinct peoples.
like the great anthrOpOids, We're nor
mally homogeneous. but ON the death Of
male in conflict with his neGhbor or
from other causes his mate would
probably of her own free will seek out
the nearest male and even If he were
already mated would be at once adopted
into the family cirC.e. This certainly
happens in the case of the gorilla and
chimpanzee to-day. But among living
races of mankind, both savage and civil
lized, multiplicity of wives Is a matter
VI tIbl't bu we part VI tllt ldlt, anu ia
many cases to achieve this females
from other tribes have to be secured
either by purchase or conquest. With
the lower apes or monkeys" polyEamy
only obtains among gregarlous species,
and either because the birth rate of the
females exceeds that of the males or be-
cause considerable number of young
males are killed annually by exciting
the jealousy Of the Older males, who are
exceedingly pugnacious.
From apes to antelopes Is far cry
but contrasts are always helpful. Ante
lopes and deer, zebras and elephants
rhnoceroses and swine are types taken
at random OF that great and important
group OF animals known as the un'
gulates," or "hoofed" animals. These
Illustrate in very striking manner
what is meant by the term secondary
sexual characters" They demonstrate
no less forcbly what is meant by the
term sexual selection" They are
valuable in this connection because ol