Evening star., 1938-09-04
HUMANS ARE HELD
BABY-FACED APES
Savant Says Features of
Anthropoid Frozen at
Infanti|e Stage.
BY THOMAS r.. HENRY,
Star Stan Corresnondent

~coA yuan SoitcspoIuCut.
CAMBRIDGE, England (By MaiD
Man is a baby-face ape with a one
sided brain.
Such, at least, are two of the major
characters which distinguish him from
such a big anthropoid as the CHM
panzee. according to conclusions Of
Sir Arthur Keith, celebrated British
anthropologist, based on new studies
Of Piltdown man. the most puzzling
anthropological find in history.
To the average visitor at a ZOO the
big ape seems extremely ugly and gro
tesque compared with human being.
But what actually happened at some
stage IN evolution, Sir Arthur reported
recently to anthropoligists here, was
that the features of the anthropoid
became frozen" at an infantile stage
to form the human features. The
baby chimpanzee looks much more
human than the adult In the course
OF countless generations these baby
ape features have been greatly re-
~-AAS~ w ASAAA VIC SAldl dCGSl lSLlC human
countenance Of today.
Various other juvenile anthropoid
characters. which the chimpanzee or
the gorilla outgrows, also have been
frozen in the human structure. Sir
Arthur said. The phenomenon is
known as "pedomorphism," a Greek
term meaning baby -bodyism." and
has been presumed a rather late de-
Velopment in the evolution of the
present human species. Even now
tnere are evidences of it in man.
some OF the pigmy bushmen of South
AFRICA showing a decided tendency
to retain babyhood features through
out life.
One Sided Brain.
Another marked human difference
from the apes, Prof. Keith stressed
Is the fact that apparently most of
the functions Of the brain are con-
centrated. in the majority Of persons,
IN the left side Of the cerebral cor
tex. Because of this. it has been
demonstrated in brain operations dur.
ing the past few years, large portions
OF the right half Of the cortex, which
Is the seat Of all higher mental life
can oe removed without any great
mental deterioration of the patient
Orolarlly this right half seems to he
a spare part" of the brain machine
aoie 10 take over most of the functions
OF the active left half if ANYTHING
happens to it. In some cases. however
the arrangement may be reversed and
the ie1t nail serve as the spare part
ms also is presumably a late de.
Velopment in human evolution from
an ape-llke ancestor. The two halves
OF the brains Of apes are symmetrical,
Inc halves OF the brains OF very an
cient types of the human species
Such as the grotesque Neanderthal
man who lived over much Of the Old
World during the middle ice ages
were much more symmetrical than
those OF modern man.
About 80 years ago there was found
IN England strange assemblaee of
bones in geological strata that indi-
Gated they were close to million
years old by far the oldest relics Of
the human race ever found in Europe
ana probably contemporary with the
celebrated ape-man Of Java. recoc-
nized as the earliest of all human.
ike creatures to have left any trace
on earth. Some OF the bones were
unquestionably human, apparently OF
quite advanced type because of the
baby features of the face and the
symmetry of the brain convolutions
as shown by casts of the inside Of the
fragmentary skull Others might
have been mistaken for those of a
chlmpanzee. The whole collection
seemed to belong together, although
some experts always have held that
the bones Of a man and an ape hap
pened to be buried together and that
such a half-chimpanzee and half-man
combination was an evolutionary i'm
possibility.
An Experiment With Man.
From the beginning of the con-
troversy Sir Arthur Keith has been
the foremost student of the-e "Pilt-