Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-06-26
HUI MAN PROG
RESS HAS ENDED
By Frederic J.. Haskin
ASHINGTON, D. c., June ~21.
W. Although you may never have
w suspected the fact, you are
2 finished and nerfact nrOd-

/ w suspected the fact, you are
a finished and perfect prod
uct of evolution. The next time you
have cold or bunion or a tooth
wise on the blink, comfort yourself,
if you can, with the reflection that
fyou are Natures masterpiece.
All of which is a way of saying
pa1eonto1ogist of the national mu-
scum, mans anatomy has reached a
stage where it will probably never
change any. more-or at least not for
about 100000 years. Neither in
body nor in mind has man made any
real progress in that time. 1t is
only his cu1ture-the accumulated re-
suit of all the efforts of many gen
erations-whfch really changes, and
which makes man appear to change.
The popular idea that man is \evolv-
ing is all wrong. Biologically speak
ing Ing hun human 10 progress ended 1'O0O'-
According to theories of evolution,
if an animal eats nothing but grass,
his teeth will in time be modified in
nibbling. but they will probably not
be much good for tearing flesh. In
the same way, bird that does not
use it's wings will in a few. geologic
ages lose all power of flight But
| this principle holds good only so far.
| When an animal has become, special
lied and adapted to his environment
| as far as his structure will permit
without endangering the balance
necessary to existence, he usually
| stops changing and finally, it is sup
| posed, loses power of development.
| There is a difference of opinion as
| to- whether man has reached the
point where he is best adapted to his
surroundings, Or whether he will con-
tinue. to .evolute. Mr.. Gidley says
M ne oh MI
rangement is permanent. He refutes
the suggestion that mans jawbone
will shrink and his teeth drop out
| because he eats more soft foods and
does not chew so vigorously as his
cave-man ancestors. Man knows
enough about chemistry to under
stand what kind of foods are >neces-
sary to insure health, and there is
little prospect of his jaw disappear
ing on balanced ration.
Our Toes Are Safe v
| Nor does Mr.. Gidley think we need
worry over the prophecy that our de-
scendants' heads will be all brain
not by present indications.
We have been further warned by
all except the big one, are already
useless from lack of exercise, and
that eventually they will grow
shorter and disappear altogether
Ike Mk the horses long discarded toes.
as groundless, for while the muscles
of the shorter digits are not partic-
| ularly flexible. in modern shoes, vet
we do use them in balancing.
Statutes of the old Greek gods and
athletes show that they poised them
selves on the--inside of the foot, a
method which gave both the appear
ance and feeling of lightness. Had
the Greek ideal persisted, the outer
toes of man might by now be almost
atrophied, probably to the improve
ment OF human posture.
If such a change were taking
place, and few scientists insist that
1t is, we would not be aware of it,
so slowly does nature progress, For
instance, it took the horse a few
m M nona: years RS. to grow .hoofs which
was not. built for fighting, he had
to be always poised on the TIPS of
his four-toed feet ready to escape
when an armored dinosaur or a
megatherium came numbering on him
II you go into almost any big
museum, you can see the bones Of
the horses, foot at different stages
OF A1s development. Biologists have
unearthed the bones of horses that
Ived 100000 years ago. These
horses were about the size of a dog
Eng had TOUR toes. Before that it is
nve. Three million years later, there
were only three, and the middle digit
mad by that time become large and
oeese en- hoof, while the bones
oa Inc Toes on each side had short
ened until they did not reach the
ground. ''ie
Man Weak Animal
because he specialized in snaed
the morse can now run as fast as
tnlrty-tWo miles an hour, while man
at his swiftest can make only about
twenty: Man is not specialized ami
his confusion that, flea can iumn
l'0OO times its height, whereas a
man needs Dole&to go only twice
ms six feet. In proportion to his
slze' the man has not as much lift
ing power as an ant; he cannot walk
to see in the dark like the cat,
But it is lucky for the man that
his ancestors did not concentrate on
beating the monkeys at tree athletics
or the horse at. foot racing If they
had, we should not today be much
farther advanced than the animals
we might have emulated.
Mans progress is supposed to be
due to his use of his BRAIN and the
fact that he developed two hands and
two feet instead of four Of one or
the other. The oldest clues to an
of skull, a thigh bone, and two
teeth. These were found in Java,
and, Judging by the stratum of Soil
in which they were lying, biologists
decided that the man lived 100000
years ago. Pithecanthropus, as the
scientists called the antique Java
nese, was fully developed man,
though with rather ape-like features.
The Javanese man of 100000 years
ago is a mere modern compared with
some of the animals whose skeletons
have been dug up and classified. Six
reptiles, flourished the armored dino
saur, which, to most people, is the
symbol of prehistoric times. But
even the dinosaur is young as the
of the Smithsonian institution, esti-
mates that animal life started on
the earth 41,140,00 years ago. Some
where between then and the very re-
cent <Javanese gentleman, man got his
start.
Father P1thecanthropus
Science is still looking for the an
cestors of Pithecanthropus, but it is
not looking for a missing link be-
tween man and the modern monkey,
because anthropologists do not think
man is descended from apes. OAR
win is often misquoted on this point.
What Darwin said was that man and
apes evolved from a common ances-
tor Some scientists hold that there
were probably a number of early
animals which branched off from the
unknown ape-like ancestor and that
any one of them might have develop
ed into a superior being,\ but that
somehow all except man failed to
make the most of themselves, or be-
came the specialized beings of the
jungle.
Mr.. Gidley explains that in the
far-off times man was not the husky
giant we imagine, but smaller crea-
ture, that he lived in trees and used
his hands to cling by, and his voice
for vague gatherings. Then for
some unknown reason, possibly be-
cause the forests disappeared through
some change of climate, this prehis-
toric man came down from his trees.
He was curious, and SO he picked
at things and examined and explored.
Then he Shnmad his fallnm citiznns