the lateral extension of the great
toe, whereby it approaches the thumb-like character of this organ in the
Quadrumana. As in the case of the incurved position of the legs and
feet, so in this case of the lateral extensibility of the great toe, the
peculiarity is even more marked in embryonic than in infant life. For,
as Prof. Wyman has remarked with regard to the foetus when about an inch
in length, "The great toe is shorter than the others; and, instead of
being parallel to them, is projected at an angle from the side of the
foot, thus corresponding with the permanent condition of this part in
the Quadrumana[6]." So that this organ, which, according to Owen, "is
perhaps the most characteristic peculiarity in the human structure,"
when traced back to the early stages of its development, is found to
present a notably less degree of peculiarity.

[6] _Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc._, Boston, 1863.

[Illustration: FIG. 12.--Portrait of a young male gorilla (after
Hartmann).]

[Illustration: FIG. 13.--Portrait of a young male child.
Photographed from life, when the mobile feet were for a short time
at rest in a position of extreme inflection.]

(4) _Hands._--Dr. Louis Robinson has recently observed that the grasping
power of the whole human hand is so surprisingly great at birth, and
during the first few weeks of infancy, as to be far in excess of present
requirements on the part of a young child. Hence he concludes that it
refers us to our quadrumanous ancestry--the young of anthropoid apes
being endowed with similar powers of grasping, in order to hold on to
the hair of the mother when she is using her arms for the purposes of
locomotion. This inference appears to me justifiable, inasmuch as no
other explanation can be given of the comparatively inordinate muscular
force of an infant's grip. For experiments showed that very young babies
are able to support their own weight, by holding on to a horizontal bar,
for a period varying from one half to more than two minutes[7]. With his
kind permission I here reproduce one of Dr. Robinson's instantaneous,
and hitherto unpublished, photographs of a very young infant. This
photograph was taken after the above paragraph (3) was written, and I
introduce it here because it serves to show incidentally--and perhaps
even better than the preceding figure--the points there mentioned with
regard to the feet and great toes. Again, as Dr. Robinson observes, the
attitude,