The Fundamentals - 1910: Vol.7

The Passing of Evolution 15 the hind limb of the ape becomes a big toe in man, which is a most important member for a being which would walk in an upright position, but a disadvantage to one who walks on all fours. The fore limbs of the ape are shortened into the arms of a man, thus adapting them to his upright position and to the various uses which are advantageous in that position, Furthermore, to make it possible to maintain the erect posi- tion of man there has to be a special construction of the ball and socket joints in the hip bones and in the adjustment of all the vertebra of the back and neck. All these would be dis- advantageous to an ape-like- creature devoid of man’s in- telligence. (d) Man’s intellectual capacity belongs to a different order from that of the lower animals; Naturalists do indeed classify men and apes together in the same genus anatom- ically. But to denote the human species they add the word “sapiens.” That is, they must regard his intelligence as a specific characteristic. The lower animals do indeed have many common instincts with man, and in many cases their instincts are far superior to those of man. But in his reason- ing powers man is apparently separated from the lower ani- mals, one and all, by an impassable gulf. , Romanes,, after collecting the manifestations of intelligent reasoning from every known species of the lower animals, found that they only equalled, altogether, the intelligence of a child 15 months old. He could find no such boundless out- look of intelligence in the lower animals as there is in man. As any one can see, it would be absurd to try to teach an ele- phant geology, an eagle astronomy, or a dog theology. Yet there is no race of human beings but has capacity to com- prehend these sciences. Again, man is sometimes, and not improperly, defined as a “tool using animal.” No animal ever uses, much less makes, a tool. But the lowest races of men show great ingenuity in making tools, while even the rudest flint implement bears

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