Evening star., 1931-12-20
MANS TRAITS SEEN
IN ALL PR|MATES
Badness and Gray Hair
Found to Be Common
characteristics.

Men grow bald and their hair turns
gray because they must follow certain
fundamental tendencies in the great
prinate family to which the human
race belongs.
Such is the conclusion of Gerrit S.
Miller, jr, curator OF the division OF
mammals of the Smithsonian InStitu-
tion, after a study extending over
several years.
This study. of far-reaching signiti
canoe in the field of anthropology, goes
far to explain various characters often
considered exclusively human, but
which, Mr.. Miller shows, are widely
distributed in the primate group. HUI
man badness, this research shows, IN
so far as it follows these primate pat
terms, Is part of the inevitable evolu-
tionary process There is nothing TO
be done about it, althout >, the case may
be quite different when the badness Is
the result of some definite physical or
nervous pathology.
Follows Definite Pattern.
When the male of the human species
begins to lose his hair, Mr.. Miller
shows, the spread of badness tends to
follow certain definite patterns. There
is llkely 10 De ullllUIIH IdioAlS VI VAN
hair line of the forehead. This also Is
a specific character in the bald CHM
panzee. With some persons badness
begins in the form of two blunt wedges
on the sides of the forehead above the
ears. This pattern is very similar to
that of the Celebes black ape. Ere
quently bare spot begins to form at
the same time at the top of the crown.
This Is an occasional character OF one
of the macaques.
Man tends to retain fringe of hair,
with badness extending over the crown.
The completely developed human bald
area Is perfectly outlined, Mr., Miller
shows, in one of the South American
monkeys. The long, dark hair at the
side and back of the head of this ami
NAL occupies the area that remains
haired in normal human badness, while
the light hair on the median area, cor
responding with the human bald spot,
Is so short and sparse that it does not
conceal the skin of the scalp.
Boards Are Similar.
The process of turning gray affords
even more striking likeneSSeS running
through the primate family. Mr.. Miller
presents eight we'll defined color pat
terms among men. One is the white
beard contraSted with the dark crown.
This frequently seen pattern among
men is also found in many species of
monkeys. Another is the white chin
beard contrasted sharply with dark
whiskers and head. Mr.. Miller found
the same color contrast in one of the
African monkeys. Still another pat
tern consists of a dark mark on the
cheek margin of a gray beard accom-
panying a gray or bald head.
In the Jewish push-cart market dis
trict in New York City, where boards
still are prominent, Mr.. Miller found
this pattern in At out of SIS bearded
men observed. A similar color pattern
is found in many OF the monkeys,
notably in immature japanese maca-
oueS which often are exhibited in ZOOS.
The gray human temple spot is the
feature of pattern which is we'll de-
VelCped in the gelada baboon. AS they
increase in size the temple spots extend
backward along the sides of the head
until they cover the whole area that
remains haired in normal badness.
The same pattern is well marked in the
West African gorilla.
Body Is Relatively Bare.
The body of man is relatively bare Of
hair This has sometimes been es-
planned as due to countless generations
of wearing clothes, rendering thick hair
over the body unnecessary for protec-
ton But, says Mr.. Miller, 1T b pos
sible to recognize the fact that human
baroness is only an eXaggeration of a
tendency that is found in other
primates. The general distribution Of
longer and shorter hair on the body
of the gorilla rather closely comedies
with the human schemey BY continu-
ing the process along the lines marked
out in this great ape stage would
eventually be reached in which the
body would become bare while the arms
and legs retained traces Of their orig1-
nal coats"
THE sexual hair pattern on the hu-
man face is another subject of age
long speculation. No one has ever been
able to show that its presence has aided
mans career as species. But 1t seems
clear that in this respect man has de-
veloped in the same general way as
the white-cheeked gibbon of Siam, the
erangs of Borneo and Sumatra, the
black hoWler monkey of South Amer
lea and the macaco lemur of Madagas-
car, all of which have sexes that differ
from each other in appearance. Man
and these other primates have followed
a tendency that may crop out anywhere
In the group Of animals to WHICH they
all belong"
Finds Nothing New.
"Often, although not invariably" Mr..
Miller continues, the process of turn
ing gray eliminates in stage of COM
plete whiteness. But even when a hu-
man being has turned gray over the
entire body or even has lost all hair
color he has done nothing that is es-
Sentially new or peculiar for a primate
Light gray or nearly white species of
primates have arisen in both Asia and
South America. These animals are not
albinistic nor in any way individually
abnormal. General graying and whtten-
ing In man seems likely to be nothing
more than another example of human
submission to rule that some other
Primates have followed. Therefore the
strong tendency present In the white
race Of man for the hair to loose its
color at an early age may be part of
q racial process Of experimentation that
has already almost whitened the skin