Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1920-10-14

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 clews to ancient
man so far discovered are part of
a skull, a thigh bone, and two teeth.
These were found in Java, and, judy
ing by the stratum Of soil in which
they were lying, biologists decided
that the man lived 100000 years ago.
Pithecanthropus, as the scientists call.
ed the antique %Javanese, was a fully
developed man, though with rather
ape-like features.
The Javanese man of a half million
years ago, is a mere modern compared
with some of the animals whose skele-
tons have been dug Up and classified.
Six million years ago, in the age Of
reptiles, flourished the armored dino
saur, which to most people is the SYM
Dol of prehistoric times. But even the
d1nosaur is young as the age of the
world goes. DR.. Walcott Of the Smith
sonian institution estimates that ami
NAL life started on the earth 41,14O,-
GOO years ago. Somewhere between
then and the very recent Javanese
gentleman man got his start.
Father Pithecanthropus.
Science is still looking for the an
cestors Of Pithecanthropus, but it is
not looking for a missing link between
man and the modern monkey, because
anthropologists do not think nan is
descended from apes. Darwin is Of
ten misquoted on this point. What
Darwin said was that man and apes
evolved from q common ancestor.
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 developed into a su-
perior being, but that somehow all
except man failed to make the most Of
themselves, or became the specialized
beings Of the jungle.
Mr.. Gidley explains that in the far
Off times man was not the husky giant
we imagine, but a smaller creature;
that he lived in trees and used his
hands to cling by, and his voice for
vague gatherings. Then for some IN
known reason, possibly because the
forests disappeared through some
change of climate, this prehistoric
man came down from his trees. He
was curious, and so he picked at things
n examined and explored. Then
he shovel his fellow citizens his re-
markable discoverings, thus develop
ing communication, which is one of
the greatest aids to progress. His
fellow men, crude as they were. prof
tied to some extent by the researches
of the early Investigators. Gradually
intelligence grew, grunts and suueals
were organized into speech. and in
the course Of a million years or so
the superior creature of today was
evolved.
The Citizen of a. D. 1oo1e2o.
This is the story of man as pieced
together from the bones that science
mas dug up and the bones it hopes
some day to find. 1t is to most scien-
lists the only plausible theory, though
there are still some people who hold
out that seeing is believing and that
when they see the animal that man
descended from they will put more
faith in evolution.
Meanwhile, if man has no Immediate
prospect Of growing. a third leg or
a C crop Of hair, he is said to be
changing in another way. Professor
Gldley says that the tendency is for
the races Of the earth to blend as
civilization spreads. The Bushmen
and lgorots may in the next few aeons
develop into desirable mates for races
now far in advance of them in civili-
cation, and finally. in the course of the
next million years, it is thought DOS
slble that all the races of the earth
may be merged into one composite
type. 1t is an exciting thought-until
we reflect that none Of US will be here
TO see the world citizen of A. y.
1O0192O.