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on the relations of man to the lower animals-第9部分

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posterior cornu; 'x'; the hippocampus minor。

In fact; all the abundant and trustworthy evidence (consisting of the
results of careful investigations directed to the determination of
these very questions; by skilled anatomists) which we now possess;
leads to the conviction that; so far from the posterior lobe; the
posterior cornu; and the hippocampus minor; being structures peculiar to
and characteristic of man; as they have been over and over again
asserted to be; even after the publication of the clearest
demonstration of the reverse; it is precisely these structures which are
the most marked cerebral characters common to man with the apes。  They
are among the most distinctly Simian peculiarities which the human
organism exhibits。

As to the convolutions; the brains of the apes exhibit every stage of
progress; from the almost smooth brain of the Marmoset; to the Orang
and the Chimpanzee; which fall but little below Man。  And it is most
remarkable that; as soon as all the principal sulci appear; the pattern
according to which they are arranged is identical with that of the
corresponding sulci of man。 The surface of the brain of a monkey
exhibits a sort of skeleton map of man's; and in the man…like apes the
details become more and more filled in; until it is only in minor
characters; such as the greater excavation of the anterior lobes; the
constant presence of fissures usually absent in man; and the different
disposition and proportions of some convolutions; that the Chimpanzee's
or the Orang's brain can be structurally distinguished from Man's。

So far as cerebral structure goes; therefore; it is clear that Man
differs less from the Chimpanzee or the Orang; than these do even from
the Monkeys; and that the difference between the brains of the
Chimpanzee and of Man is almost insignificant; when compared with that
between the Chimpanzee brain and that of a Lemur。

It must not be overlooked; however; that there is a very striking
difference in absolute mass and weight between the lowest human brain
and that of the highest apea difference which is all the more
remarkable when we recollect that a full grown Gorilla is probably
pretty nearly twice as heavy as a Bosjes man; or as many an European
woman。  It may be doubted whether a healthy human adult brain ever
weighed less than thirty…one or two ounces; or that the heaviest
Gorilla brain has exceeded twenty ounces。

This is a very noteworthy circumstance; and doubtless will one day help
to furnish an explanation of the great gulf which intervenes between
the lowest man and the highest ape in intellectual power;* but it has
little systematic value; for the simple reason that; as may be
concluded from what has been already said respecting cranial capacity;
the difference in weight of brain between the highest and the lowest
men is far greater; both relatively and absolutely; than that between
the lowest man and the highest ape。  The latter; as has been seen; is
represented by; say twelve ounces of cerebral substance absolutely; or
by 32:20 relatively; but as the largest recorded human brain weighed
between 65 and 66 ounces; the former difference is represented by more
than 33 ounces absolutely; or by 65:32 relatively。  Regarded
systematically; the cerebral differences of man and apes are not of more
than generic value; his Family distinction resting chiefly on his
dentition; his pelvis; and his lower limbs。

    'Footnote' * I say 'help' to furnish: for I by no means
    believe that it was any original difference of cerebral
    quality; or quantity which caused that divergence between
    the human and the pithecoid stirpes; which has ended in the
    present enormous gulf between them。  It is no doubt
    perfectly true; in a certain sense; that all difference of
    function is a result of difference of structure; or; in
    other words; of difference in the combination of the
    primary molecular forces of living substance; and; starting
    from this undeniable axiom; objectors occasionally; and
    with much seeming plausibility; argue that the vast
    intellectual chasm between the Ape and Man implies a
    corresponding structural chasm in the organs of the
    intellectual functions; so that; it is said; the
    non…discovery of such vast differences proves; not that
    they are absent; but that Science is incompetent to detect
    them。  A very little consideration; however; will; I think;
    show the fallacy of this reasoning。  Its validity hangs
    upon the assumption; that intellectual power depends
    altogether on the brainwhereas the brain is only one
    condition out of many on which intellectual manifestations
    depend; the others being; chiefly; the organs of the senses
    and the motor apparatuses; especially those which are
    concerned in prehension and in the production of articulate
    speech。

A man born dumb; notwithstanding his great cerebral mass and his
inheritance of strong intellectual instincts; would be capable of few
higher intellectual manifestations than an Orang or a Chimpanzee; if he
were confined to the society of dumb associates。  And yet there might
not be the slightest discernible difference between his brain and that
of a highly intelligent and cultivated person。  The dumbness might be
the result of a defective structure of the mouth; or of the tongue; or
a mere defective innervation of these parts; or it might result from
congenital deafness; caused by some minute defect of the internal ear;
which only a careful anatomist could discover。

The argument; that because there is an immense difference between a
Man's intelligence and an Ape's; therefore; there must be an equally
immense difference between their brains; appears to me to be about as
well based as the reasoning by which one should endeavour to prove
that; because there is a 〃great gulf〃 between a watch that keeps
accurate time and another that will not go at all; there is therefore a
great structural hiatus between the two watches。  A hair in the
balance…wheel; a little rust on a pinion; a bend in a tooth of the
escapement; a something so slight that only the practised eye of the
watchmaker can discover it; may be the source of all the difference。

And believing; as I do; with Cuvier; that the possession of articulate
speech is the grand distinctive character of man (whether it be
absolutely peculiar to him or not); I find it very easy to comprehend;
that some equally inconspicuous structural difference may have been the
primary cause of the immeasurable and practically infinite divergence of
the Human from the Simian Stirps。

Thus; whatever system of organs be studied; the comparison of their
modifications in the ape series leads to one and the same resultthat
the structural differences which separate Man from the Gorilla and the
Chimpanzee are not so great as those which separate the Gorilla from
the lower apes。

But in enunciating this important truth I must guard myself against a
form of misunderstanding; which is very prevalent。  I find; in fact;
that those who endeavour to teach what nature so clearly shows us in
this matter; are liable to have their opinions misrepresented and their
phraseology garbled; until they seem to say that the structural
differences between man and even the highest apes are small and
insignificant。  Let me take this opportunity then of distinctly
asserting; on the contrary; that they are great and significant; that
every bone of a Gorilla bears marks by which it might be distinguished
from the corresponding bone of a Man; and that; in the present
creation; at any rate; no intermediate link bridges over the gap
between 'Homo' and 'Troglodytes'。

It would be no less wrong than absurd to deny the existence of this
chasm; but it is at least equally wrong and absurd to exaggerate its
magnitude; and; resting on the admitted fact of its existence; to
refuse to inquire whether it is wide or narrow。  Remember; if you will;
that there is no existing link between Man and the Gorilla; but do not
forget that there is a no less sharp line of demarcation; a no less
complete absence of any transitional form; between the Gorilla and the
Orang; or the Orang and the Gibbon。  I say; not less sharp; though it is
somewhat narrower。  The structural differences between Man and the
Man…like apes certainly justify our regarding him as constituting a
family apart from them; though; inasmuch as he differs less from them
than they do from other families of the same order; there can be no
justification for placing him in a distinct order。

And thus the sagacious foresight of the great lawgiver of systematic
zoology; Linnaeus; becomes justified; and a century of anatomical
research brings us back to his conclusion; that man is a member of the
same order (for which the Linnaean term PRIMATES ought to be retained)
as the Apes and Lemurs。  This order is now divisible into seven
families; of about equal systematic value: the first; the ANTHROPINI;
contains Man alone; the second; the CATARHINI; embraces the old…world
apes; the third; the PLATYRHINI; all new…world apes; except the
Marmosets; the fourth; the ARCTOPITHECINI; contains the Marmosets; the
fifth; the LEMURINI; the Lemursfrom which 'Cheiromys' should probably
be excluded to form a sixth distinct family; the CHEIROMYINI; while the
seventh; the GALEOPITHECINI; contains only the flying Lemur
'Galeopithecus'; a strange form which almost touches on the Bats; as
the 'Cheiromys' puts on a rodent clothing; and the Lemurs simulate
Insectivora。

Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series
of gradations as thisleading us insensibly from the crown and summit
of the animal creation down to creatures; from which there is but a
step; as it seems; to the lowest; smallest; and least intelligent of
the placental Mammalia。  It is as if nature herself had foreseen the
arrogance of man; and with Roman severity had provided that his
intellect; by its very triumphs; should call into prominence the
slaves; admonishing the conqueror that he is but dust。

These are the chief facts; this the immediate conclusion from them to
which I adverted in the commencemen
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