Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-12
CLARK EVOLUTION
THEORY IS UPHELD
BY DR.. CONNOLLY
SingIe-Ce'| Origin Belief Is
Weakening Before Mass of
Evidence, He Says.
SCIENTISTS FORCED
INTO GROUP CONCEPT
Lecturer Declares Hybrid Charac-
tiers Separate to First
Parents Forms.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

| Connolly of the department of anthro-
! pology att Catholic University said in a
lecture at the university last night on
the present status of the evolution
theory
| This was approximately the position
| taken by Austin H. Clark of the Smith
sonlan Institution in a new theory of
Connolly referred to Clark's service to
| science in calling attention to the fact
that no missing links have been found
| between major groups, although they
| may be found within species.
| Although an evolutionary concept
| still is admitted by science as offering
| the best Interpretation of the develop
ment of life, DR.. Connolly said. and the
weight of evidence seems in its favor,
weak links have been found.
The rediscovery of the Mendelian law
of inheritance early in the twentieth
century, he said seems to prove that
no new characters are introduced into
| a race by hybridization. but that in the
course of time. the hybrid characters
separate into the characters of the first
parents. This leaves, he said, the fact
of mutations due to mysterious changes
in the germ cells which are hereditary.
Once one of these mutations appears
and is better adapted to survive in its
environment, the course of evolution
goes on for time on the Darwinian
line of natural selection, but soon
reaches its limits.
Inheritance Questioned.
The inheritance of acquired char
acters, he said, never has been proved
to the satisfaction OF conservative
scientists. He pointed out, however,
tn lo0 inner
itance of acquired mental character
istics has been reported by the Russian
psychologist, Pavlov. in connection with
conditioned refleXes in mice. Pav.ov
taught mice to run for food at the
sound of a bell With the first genera
ton, this required 800 lessons, with the
second 100 lessons, with the third 80
lessons and with the fifth only five.
The third chain of evidence which
apparently is not holding up DR.. Con-
molly said, is that offered by the reca-
pitulation theory of embryology. 1t was
postulated at first that an individual
before birth passed through the adult
forms of all its ancestors. This soon
was modified to the statement that the
embryo passed through the embryonic
stages of all it's ancestral forms. The
| theory recently has been challenged, Dr.
Connolly said
Anatomy Compared.
The fourth chain of evolutionary evil
dence, he said, was that of compare
tive anatomy, tending to uphold the re-
lationship of different life groups. He
pointed out. however, that different in
terpietations recently have been put on
many of these points,
The field of paleontology, he said, re-
1oc ,is1 vi
casts doubt OH some Of the evolutionary
| arguments. Some OF the higher forms,
such as the vertebrate fishes. have been
found to extend far back in geologic
time. Fish fossils have been found in
rocks of the Cambrian period, practical
ly the earliest furnishing any evidence
of life.
This, he said, would indicate a poly
genetic evolution. rather than evolution
from single-celled creature. The gap
between vertebratcs and non-vertebrates,
he insisted, never has been bridged.
geographic Distribution Is Factor.
Geographic distribution of animal
and plant forms which first gave OAR
win his clue, DR.. Connolly said, also
has turned up facts disturbing to the
| orthodox evoutionist. Darwin, for eX-
ample, found among the birds of the
Galapagos Islands varieties which EVIL
IDENTIFY were close relatives of those OF
| the South American mainland. put
which, due to the peculiar environment
| of the islands, had undergone great mod
| ifications Later studies. DR.. Connolly
said, show that while such relationships
| apparently exist. islands show great
numbers of species without apparent
relationships outside and which seem 10
f.a, ,s<,s,, Il ti1nu
The scientific world DR.. Connolly SAID,
seems to be starting another 10-year de-
bate on the origin Of man with SUCH
authorities as Dr. Henry Fairchild Os-
borne of the New York Museum OF Nat
| ural History saying boldly that the
"ape-man" theory is a myth while 9TH
ers equally prominent are defending II.
The fossil remains OF ancient man,
he insisted, extend with absolute GER
tainty no further back than the Gro
Magnon man wh) existed in Europe IN
the post-glacial pleistocene period from
| 10000 to $4,000 years ago. The Gro
| Magnon was a man of high mentality
ana an artistic temperament, producing
| the type of paintings on cave walls and
| engraVings on bones and shells.
Neanderthal Man Accepted.
Numerous remains of a still earlier
! period, the so-called Neanderthal man,
| generally are accepted although they
| are not so we'll authenticated as the
| Cro-Magnon skeletons. Even these in
| dictate a man of fairly good development
with brain capacity of 400 cubic GEN.
timeters. slightly higher than that of
| the average present day Australian ma
| tive.
Much has been made, he said, of the
| celebrated PiltdoWn bones found in
England in geological strata of the first
| ice-age. This find consists of a skull
/ cap, half of a lower jaw and first and
second molar teeth. The jaw is eX-
| tremely primitive, while the skull cap
! recently has been pronounced sufficient
| to accommodate brain capacity of
| 500 cubic scentimcters., about that of
! tn. average man of to-day. The bones
were found badly scattered and. DR..
Connolly pointed out, DIR. Ales Hrdlicka
| of the Smithsonian Museum does not
| believe the jaw and skull belonged to
| the same individual, while DR.. Gerrit S.
| Miller of the Smithsonian has declared
| the law to be that of a chimpanzee and
| the skull that o. man.
| The Heidelberg and Pithecanthropus
! skeletal remains, he said, are too scanty
| for scientific reconstruction.
Science knows no animal ancestors
| of man, but it Is widely accepted
working hypothesis" Dr.. Connolly con-
cIudod