Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-11-29

-FOUR 1eet, Du1lt nests IN trees, ate pro-
digious quantities of half-ripe fruits
and berries and had brain in about
the same stage OF development as an
anthropoid ape of today evolved into
the almost hairless, erect animal
known as man, whose brain repre-
sents the highest wor ismanship of ma
ture, was explained yesterday after
noon by DR.. Ales Hrdlicka. anthro-
pologist Of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion. in a lecture at the Department
of the Interior auditorium.
The most involved OF these proc
esses, DR.. Hrdlicka said, was the de-
velopment of the human brain. which
came naturally, however. under the
circumstances. The jungle ape was
forced to live in tree tops for protec-
ton, and practically his only food
consisted of fruits and berries. In
order to sustain life on these he was
forced to eat great quantities. as is
the case with apes today. This ne
and broad, powerful jaws. fitted for
almost continuous mastication.
While the necessity for these jaws
remained the creatures brain was
shackled. They forced a bone forma-
ton of the head which did not give
the brain a chance to expand. One
prominent distinguishing feature Of
ape skulls today is a bony ridge about
the head, which acts like a circle of
iron around the brain itself.
Habit Change Forced.
But in all jungle areas, DR.. Hrdlicka
said. there are great grassy inter-
walls, practically free of trees, where
animal life is most abundant
Through natural increase within the
forest the precursor of man was
70 Cd
open space. This necessitated changes
in his habits to survive. First he
learned to stand erect. The tall
grasses and bushes made this neces-
sary in order that he could see what
was going on about him. spot possible
enemies and locate food.
With the other forms OF life plen-
tiful, some Of them weaker than him
self. the ape became meat eater.
With more nourishing food. he did not
have to eat SO much, and consequent
ly he did not have to spend so much
time chewing. The result was that
the need for heavy, powerful jaws
disappeared. A primary lesson or
evolution is that nature never keeps
anything long which is of no value.
With the change in the jaw the teeth
changed and fundamental alterations
went on in the bones of the skull. The
ridge around the brain disappeared,
and this organ had a chance TO d
velop until it has reached the pro
portions of present man.
Teeth Only Weapons.
When the ape first emerged from
the Jungle his only weapons were his
teeth. But when he began to stand
erect. using the two front legs as
hands. the use of the fist in fghting
and securing food began, and 1t was
only a step to the use or a clup OF
stone held in the fist. Once this de-
yelopnent was reached the creature
was able to kill animals larger than
itself This brought about the use
Of skin clothing, which the ape-llke
creature probably found warmer than
his own thick hair. Once clothed, the
need for hair on his body passed
Consequently. in the course OF a great
MANY generations. this disappeared
and man became the hairless creature
he now is so far as the body is con-
cerned. ,,a.
But his emergence from the shaoe
OF the jungle left him with an un-
protected head under the hot sun
and the rain. His hair, as is the
case with present apes, was very thin
an his head and face. While he had
danended for life on swift climbing
and running about in the tree tops
long hair and beard. with their
tandency to catch on branches. would
have been fatal. Now it became a
necessity Consequently those or the
snecies with the longest, thickest
hair survived and continued the race
under the new conditions. FROM
head hair only a few inches long at
~ r,ost the creature evolved hair
capable of reaching several feet ana
a long beard.
Group Life Begins.
Deprived of the shelter of his nest
in treetops, he was obliged to fno
shelter in caves. In the jungle, with
individual nests, he had been soli-
tary creature. But now groups would
be forced into a single cave. The
foundations of society were laid
with his brain developing in it's new
freedom the conception Of some very
primitive form Of speech. probably at
first only a few differentiated squeals
and grunts, was a natural step. Ihus
the forest ape, who is represented in
most aspects by the chimpanzees and
eorillas Of today, evolved into A
higher creature who finally produced
man.
That the ancestors of man walked
on all tours and had hairy bodies is
occasional throwbacks to this form
Thus children are sometimes found
who, after their creeping days are
over, undergo period of using both
hands as extra feet and walking
almost exactly as an ape. He TOLD
of one remarkable case of this which
came under his own observation in
Mexico. These children always re-
turn eventually to walking in the
natural human way, on two feet and
erect. Even such late developments
as the Heidelberg and Nianderthal
men, representing great advances
from the apes toward true man, prob
ably were unable to hold their heads
erect. DR.. Hrdlicka said.
The place of mans origin Is open
to considerable doubt, he said, but
has been ascertained to be one of
three continents, Asia, Europe or
Africa The theory that the first
originated in central Asia. long held
by anthropologists, can no longer be
held, he explained, not only because
there are no very early skeletal re-
mains there. but because the country
was not propitious for evolutionary
development toward higher type.
That man may have developed in
southeastern Asia is sustained by
these facts: The region has three
living anthropoid apes representing
high stage of development; a num-
Der of fossil apes have been exca
waited which are well advanced to-
ward man: the oldest known skeletal
remains Of a creature who was GER
| tainly a human precursor, differing
| very widely from the highest apes.
have been found in Java, which once
was a part Of the mainland. The OBJ
lection to this claim Is that in Eng