AN AMAZING DISCOVERY.

North Otago Times, 17 October 1907, Page 1 (Supplement)

AN AMAZING DISCOVERY.

' . t. . .■■■■.- A RACE OF MISSING LINKS AND man-apes:

Wo somo timo bock published an article on the now Australian missing link' discovered by tho German Professor Klaatsch,' sdys "Science Sittings," a fresh, and - most important link in tho chain of evolution that connects njan to tho anthropoid apo. It would now seem that ho has gono a,stop further and has observed a race of natives between the Daly and Victoria rivers in Northern Australia who possess somo o( tho most marked characteristics of apes and yet aro undoubtedly men. Theso characteristics consist in having tho thumbs very slightly developed, as in tho apes, and in having great toes of almost identical form with tho thumbs. Ho found that theso natives wero covered with long hair from head to foot on all parts of tho body except tho face, tho palms of the'hands, tho soles of the foot, and their haunches. Tho most remarkable fcaturo of all was tho formation of their hands and feet. Tho palms of tho hands were aimost as long proportionately as the sole of an ordinary whito man's foot and tho fingers wero proportion)at'ely short. Theso wero partially joined together by skin. The thumb was noticeably short, \ind its tip did not reach half way towards tho baso of the fingers. It did not possess tho power of moving freely across tho hand, which is characteristic of tho civilised man's thumb. All the peculiarities noted in tho thumbs of tho natives aro found in tho higher anthropoid apes, especially the chimpanzee and gorilla, The feet of the natives wero form- | ed In almost exactly the same manner as their hands. They wero ftlso slightly turned up on tho jnner side, so that the little men did not movo with the same apparent case as white men, whoso feet camo evenly upon tho ground, but nevertheless they were able to run very well, Their feet possessed tho samo prehcnsilo power as their hands, and they used one and the other with equal facility in climbing trees and seizing objects. The 'possession of a thumb by tho npo is, of course, one of the .most' remarkable facts indicating his close relationship to man, but' its lack of development shows the immense gulf • which still separates liim from tho human family. Tho Klaatsch apeman possessed an absolutely ape-liko thumb and great toe, together with the structure of a man in other respects, and therefore apparently ho took equally of the characteristics of an ape and a man, Tho wild men are very npo-liko In general aspect. They have scarcely any forehead and they have large projecting ridges above their eyes. They are highly prognathous, that is to say, they hnve protruding under jaws, Their noses are flattened almost to nothing at the bridge and are very broad at the other end, tho nostrils being lnrge and opening forwards. They do not possess a properly articulated language, and they moke known their wants by cries and howls resembling the noises niado by monkeys and other animals, The- children r."o covered with a soft fur which disappears at tho age of about ten, ami is then replaced by coarse hair resembling that of tho are. Professor Klaatsch narrates how one of them escaped in alarm at tho sight of his camera by running up a gum tree and then hanging by the feet, looked over his shoulder to see whr.t the thing was. The newly discovered ape-man represents or.o distinct stage lower or further back in the scale of evolution than the Australian Hushman, hithcrn to regarded as the lowest existing type of man, Tho latter possesses many of tho characteristics mentioned as belonging to tho new ape-man described hoi'o but, not the ape-like formation of the thumbs and great toes. He has tho prominent eyebrows and jaws, tho llat nose and tho lank limbs. With i ail th'eir degradation and savagery : tiie Inishmen possess skill of a certain i kind. They are the constructors of ( the wonderful boomerang

Whether the bushimm is a direct descendant of tho ape-man or a cross between two races will be interesting to decide. We ventured the opinion in our lAst article on Prof, Klaatsch's first discovery of the woman missing link that it formed a most important factor in the evidence that cstnUishes the Darwinian theory, The "Pithecanthropus erectus," or erect apelike man found in Java possessed even nioro ape-like characteristics in its skeleton than the live man now discovered by Professor Klaatsch; yet in its erect attitude and the formation of its skull it proved Itself more nearer to man than any existing ape.

Virtually, we now possess four 'links in the chain of evolution vhiqh proves the descent of man. These are the anthropoid ape, tho "Pithecanthropus crrctuf" of Dubois, the ape-man of Klaatsch and tho Australian Bushman. There is no longer an inexplicable gap between the apo and man. Practically, there is no longer a missing link,