Edward William Brabrook

“ The chief movement in the act of progression in Man is performed by an enormously developed group of muscles known as the calf of the leg. In the upper limbs the hand has become the most complete and perfect mechanical organ ever produced. From the first moment that Man recognized the advantage of using a club or a stone in attacking his prey or defending himself, the direct incentives to a higher brain-development came into existence. ”

“ He accepted the investigation of the relations of Man to the Mammalia as the first great duty of the society he formed. He did not, however, confine this duty within those limits. On the contrary, he defined anthropology as the science of the whole nature of Man, as including in its grasp nearly the whole of the circle of the sciences. ”

“ If each individual among us is the result not only of the circumstances by which he is surrounded, but of the physical and moral characters which have come to him by the use during countless generations of faculties that have been ever growing and widening, the close observation of the present generation may reveal much of the history of the past, and give guidance to the generations to come. ”

“ The opinion most generally held is that the transition from palæolithic to neolithic Man took place elsewhere than in this country—it is suggested that it might have taken place in Africa—and that in this country there was a long interval of complete depopulation—that the palæolithic peoples all died out, and many centuries passed before the neolithic peoples arrived. ”

“ We cannot refuse to exercise the same degree of caution, though we run no risk in asserting that it must be exceedingly probable that the industry of fabricating flint implements was a progressive industry, commencing with rudimentary forms, and proceeding by degrees to more elaborate and finished work. ”

“ It is certainly to be regretted that these remains were not submitted to the scientific examination of Mr. Newton until about seven years after they had been discovered. The very completeness of the skeleton has tended to throw doubts upon it; for it has been urged that, as we do not possess so complete a skeleton of the much stronger and tougher bones of the extinct animals, it is not likely that we should find one in the case of their human contemporaries. ”

“ I have to thank the Editor of 'The Zoologist' for giving me the privilege of addressing his readers on "Man." He has himself shown, beyond controversy, how fitting the subject of Man is for the pages of this Journal. A zoology which omitted from its purview the highest and most interesting of all animals would indeed be incomplete. ”

“ When he told us, further, that the worked edges are commonly rounded off and blunted, and the worked surfaces stained of a deep brown colour, like the natural flint, so that the artificial work is often rendered obscure, he made an admission which is significant of a very great antiquity in the objects, if they be in fact implements worked by Man's hand. ”

“ The zoologist has therefore an opportunity offered to him of research for the discovery of facts that will throw light on a number of unsolved problems. The missing links leading up to Pithecanthropus, and from him to the pre-palæolithic peoples; the rude workmanship of these latter; the remains of palæolithic Man, and the links between him and neolithic Man, are all subjects upon which research may some day be rewarded by important discoveries. ”

“ They are much more hairy than human creatures of the present time, especially the old males and the children.... The foreheads recede, the large bushy, red eyebrows meet over the nose, the brows are heavy, and deeply overshadow the eyes beneath.... Many of the women have whiskers, beards, and moustaches.... ”

“ Dubois unearthed a great number of fossil bones, among which he found the upper part of a skull, a thigh-bone, and two teeth, which resembled those of Man. Great care had been taken in removing the layers of rock one by one, so that it was ascertained that these remains were accompanied by those of animals now extinct. The bones were fossilized, harder than marble, very heavy, and of a chocolate-brown colour. ”

“ In the heart of London, as well as in many parts of the country, palæolithic flint implements have been found in enormous numbers, in association with bones of extinct animals, and in circumstances proving their immense antiquity. These animals include the Hippopotamus, Mammoth, Elephant, Rhinoceros, Lion, Wild Cat, Bear, Hyæna, Bison, and Wild Horse. ”

“ For this purpose an ethnographic survey has been organized for the United Kingdom, and facts are being accumulated with regard not only to the physical types of the inhabitants of various places, but also to their current traditions and beliefs and their peculiarities of dialect, as well as to the monuments and remains of ancient culture in their vicinity, and the other historical documents which tend to give evidence as to the continuity of race. ”

“ Such ladies as possess lobes to their ears probably have them pierced, and a small feather pushed through the orifice.... The savages sat huddled close together round their fires with fruits, bones, and half-putrid flesh.... Then, as now, quarrels would sometimes arise over meals.... Man at that time was not a degraded animal, for he had never been higher ”

“ Its mechanical and physical advantages, the differentiation of the limbs into hands and feet, and the relation between the more perfect condition of those organs and the development of the brain, were pointed out. The difference between the semi-erect attitude of the anthropoids and the perfectly upright position of Man represents a wide gap. ”

“ The outdoor naturalist may, if he bear in mind how much there is yet unknown or uncertain as to the real history and belongings of primitive Man, not unreasonably expect to find something that may clear up one or other of these doubtful questions. In any case, the study and training of the zoologist will eminently fit him for such an undertaking, for it is upon zoological principles and by zoological methods that such questions can most properly be determined. ”