Page:The Last link.djvu/22

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THE LAST LINK

tion of the majority of zoologists; but if we compare man with the two chief groups of monkeys—the Eastern monkeys (or Catarrhinæ) and the Western or American monkeys (Platyrrhinæ)—there can be no doubt that the former group is much more closely related to man than is the latter. In the natural order of the Catarrhinæ we find united a long series of lower and higher forms. The lowest, the Cynopitheci, appear still closely related to the Platyrrhinæ and to the Lemures; while, on the other hand, the tailless apes (Anthropomorphæ) approach man through their higher organization. Hence one of our best authorities on the Primates, Robert Hartmann,[1] proposed to subdivide the whole order of the Simiæ into three groups: (1) Primarii, man together with the other Anthropomorphæ, or tailless apes; (2) Simiæ, all the other monkeys; (3) Prosimiæ, or Lemurs. This arrangement has received

  1. 'Die menschenähnlichen Affen und ihre Organisation im Vergleich zur menschlichen.' 1883.