Page:Evolution of Life (Henry Cadwalader Chapman, 1873).djvu/216

164 half monkeys, represented by the Galeopithecus, Cheiromys, and Lemurs, stating of this group that the Loris seemed to furnish the transition to the true monkeys. Let us now consider these a little. The true monkeys are usually divided into the Catarhines, or the monkeys of the Old World, including the Gorilla, Chimpanzee, Orang, Gibbon, Magots, Macaques, Baboons, etc., and the Platy rhines, or those of the New World (confined to South America), among which are found the Howlers, Spiders, Capuchins, and Marmosets. The terms Catarhine and Platyrhine refer to the nostrils, which in the Catarhine look downward, but in the Platyrhine are flattened. In the peculiarity of the downward nostrils Man agrees with the Catarhine monkeys. Further, all Catarhines have thirty-two teeth, which is also the dental formula of Man; whereas the Platyrhines have thirty-six, the Marmosets excepted, in which the third true molar is rudimentary. These little monkeys offer also the peculiarity of having claws on their fingers and toes. We see, therefore, of the two groups of monkeys that Man, from the position of his nostrils and, the number of his teeth, belongs to the Catarhine.

Having briefly called attention to some of the peculiarities of the human skeleton, etc., as compared with that of the Gorilla and other monkeys, let us now compare the brain and mental powers of Man with those of the lower animals. While no one understands how the physical impression of an external object conveyed to the brain through the senses gives rise to an idea, or becomes thought, every one admits that without the brain there can be no thought; and by a comparison of the mental powers in different kinds of animals, we conclude that the relative perfection of mind depends on the relative perfection of brain. Thus, in Bees and Ants, which have long been famous for their intelligence, the nervous system is more highly developed than in any other members of the Articulata. In speaking of