The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1921-01-27
OTHER MISSING LINKS
Fields Beside the Mid-African May Now
Be Cultivated With Valuable Results.

! TO call the projected expedition OF
! the American Museum Of Natural His
i tory TO the Orient quest Of the miss.
| ing link Between man and the apes ii
to ignore a good many other missing
links that scientists would like to find
/ and that the members OF the American
party will search for. 1t is true that
1 hope of revealing the secret OF man i
evolution was stirred in 1891 by dis
coyery Of the Dutch army surgeon Du-
/ bois Of the skull OF supposed ape.
man in Java, and that it would be a
feather in the cap Of this country to
confirm the evidence Of tbs fossil find,
but it is also strongly desired that
more light than we now have may be
thrown on some Of the living natives
Of China, about whom We know almost
as little as we do about our prehistoric
ancestors.
There is still plenty Of inexplored
territory in the world. Marco Polo.
pushing his caravans toward horizon
that bounded the terra incognito OF the
western world six centuries ago, real
lied no adventure more redolent with
1iAAiNAAtf IMAM A1iN1t W HAtBt dtN plum
ised to our scientists of 1920. OF obsta
Giles there viii be enough to intrigue
the most sophisticated These are the
more complicated because they are con-
eerned with other than mundane mat
tiers. Fantastic superstitions present
barriers no less real than mountain
chains, waterless deserts and treeless
plains. a bulletin issued by the Amer
lean Museum gives a glimpse of them:
One of the reasons why so little Is
known of the fossils Of China and in
terror Asia Is that material OF this sort
is considered valuable TO the Chinese.
Fossils are supposed to have wonderful
medicinal qualities They are known
as dragons bones, and wherever
fossil yielding locality has been found,
it has been carefully concealed
Long before the Chinese arrived China
was inhabited by aboriginal tribes,
which were pushed south and west just
as the Indians were driven westward
BY the white mon when they advanced
across the American continent.
There are many reasons why Central
Asia has remained scientifically unex-
plored for SO long a time. The coun
try and its inhabitants present unusual
obstacles TO scientific research. In
many places the natives are exceedingly
suspicious OF foreigners. Religious sup
arstitions greatly handicap research
md make il exceedingly dangerous.
The Chinese have many supcrstitions
the ground The feng shut.
he spirits Of the earth, wind and water,
must always be favorable before
burial takes place, and il, Is exceedingly I
inlueky to disturb the ground in the
'egion of cemetery. In Tibet condi
ions are even more difficult. All the
rold in the country belongs to the
anna church and the natives. can con
Give of only two reasons why for
ianers should come to their country
ither as gold seekers or as mission
ries
Here is the life for the scientist seek
ng adventure The expedition prom
scs rare sport There are wild camels
nd wild asses in the Cobb, as well as
ntelopes that can run 60 miles an hour
\merica wants specimens of these
live. If possible But il should not be
90 hastily assumed that we are going
8 enhance the impression of us that
e are exclusively gold seekers or mis-
ionaries There is real desire to
iake tie expedition factor in devel-
pment OF the educational life of the |
hinese republic. China has to this
nv no institution wherein natural his
1ry objects can be studied by modern |
lethods. The Occident proposes to re- |
eal the Orient to itself In a novel 4
anse interior Asia is still to be re
arded as the cradle of the world"
Yet we suppose that greater popular
ltercst win continue to surround the
mt for that othre missing link This
i'll be heightened by growing belief
rat our standing as good Christians.
/ even a. good church members. will II
II be put in jeopardy by discovery u
lat the apemsn. ii he is unearthed,
III prove to he NJ least 100000 years
u or twice the age Of the Heidelberg
an. whose jaw, found IN southern :
ermany. is regarded by scientists as
,e most venerable relic Of the western
orld Though the heretofore widely
.ceutcd story 81 the Creation be top
81 from is foundation. the quest for
revise knowledge goes on apace.-
5Ttland Oregonian.