T H E F I R E A P E S

49 it s ac hi ev em en ts wi ll ne ve r be po ss ib le of du pl ic at io n in nat ur e, th at , in the wo rd s of o n e n a t u r a l i s t , " p r o g r e s s h a n gs o n bu t a s i n g l e t h re a d . T h a t t h r e a d i s th e h u m a n ge rm pla sm ." A Fr en ch sc ho la r mu rm ur s a li tt le un ea si ly "m an al on e in the un iv er se is no t fi ni sh e d. " Ju li a n Hu xl e y de fe nd s t he un iq ue ne ss of the hu ma n sp ec ie s w it h an im - passioned vigor. "Among the actual inhabi- tan ts of the ear th, " he says , "pa st and pre sen t, no oth er li ne s co ul d ha ve be en ta ke n wh ic h wou ld hav e pro duc ed spe ech and con cep tua l th ou gh t .. . It co ul d no t ha ve b ee n ev ol ve d on ear th ex ce pt in man ." Th at re ma rk is bo th wi se , in a se ns e, a nd foo li sh . It is th e st at em en t of a m an wh o ha s lo ok e d fa r i nt o th e de pt hs of th e pa st and se en no th in g so wo nd er fu l as ma n. Ye t it be- tra ys al so the relu cta nce of the hum an ima gi- na ti on as it tu rn s to wa rd th e fu tu re -i ts co n- ce rn wi th it se lf , it s un wi ll in gn es s to re li n- qu is h th e st ag e. Th is ge nu in el y pr of ou nd mi nd is su re ly no t una wa re th at an in te ll ec - tu al di no sa ur of the dy in g Cr et ac eo us mi gh t we ll ha ve mu rm ur ed : "T he sa ur ia ns al on e ar e no t fi ni sh ed . Wh at po ss ib le th in gs co ul d im pro ve up on us ?" Th e Cr et ac eo us da te li ne w ou l d h a v e m a d e i t a w i s e a n d H u x l i a n st at em en t. It wo ul d ha ve ta ke n te n mi ll io n ye ar s to fo rc e it s s er i ou s a lt er a t io n. M r. Hu xl ey is e qu al ly sa fe f ro m re fu ta ti on , so sa fe in fa ct th at he sn if fs co nt em pt uou sl y at th e po te nt ia l th re at of fe re d by o ur ro wd y re - ma in in g co us in s up in the fa mi ly tr ee . "T he mo nk ey s, " he sa ys , "h av e qu it e le ft be hi nd the m tha t mor e gen era liz ed sta ge fro m whi ch a c ons cio us thi nki ng cre atu re cou ld dev el op." I am afr ai d th at we a re al to ge th er to o im - pressed by the fact;that we live on the ground and that our remai nin g rel ati ves , poor fell ows , sh ow a de ci de d pr ef er en ce fo r tr ee s. It ne ve r see ms t o occur to us tha t. i f they didn 't sta y up th er e we wo ul d jo ll y we ll sh ow th em wh at fo r. As fo r th a t "m or e ge ne ra li ze d st a ge " wh ic h Mr . Hu xl ey de ma nd s fo r th e ap pe ar - an ce of a thi nk in g cr ea tu re , I am qu it e su re tha t he ca nnot def ine it in a wa y w hic h wou ld se ri ous ly th re at en th e re pu ta ti on of se ve ra l exist ing prima tes. Th e on ly wa y to be co me a "g en er al iz ed st ag e" is t o pr od uc e, in th e co ur se of ti me , se ve ra l di ve rg en t sm ar t de sc en da nt s. No on e can sa y t hat tha t fac ult y has be en los t, bu t the wh ol e mo nk ey gr ou p wi ll sta y ups ta ir s no w t i l l w e a r e g o ne . A n d i f t he y d o n' t c o m e dow n, the re is st ill my squir rel , who se act ion s at ti me s re mi nd me of a cer ta in an ci en t hu - ma n fo re ru nn e r in th e E oc e ne . T ha t c ha p wa sn 't re co gn iz ed as "g en er al iz ed " ei th er , un ti l so me wh er e al on g th e wa y he be ga n to w a l k on h i s h i n d f e e t . I n t h e b e g i n n i n g , I ' m n ot a t a l l s u r e h e w a s a s sm a r t a s my squirrel. Now I have said that Mr. Huxley is safe fr om re fu ta ti on , ge ol og ic al ti me be in g wh at it is . If it is i mp os si bl e to re fu te hi m un ti l th e pa ss ag e of an ot he r si xt y mi ll io n ye ar s, it mi gh t be mor e co mf or ta bl e to ass um e he has sp ok en th e tr ut h. It mig ht ha ve b ee n, th at is , up un ti l la st ye ar . It was th en th at sc ie nt is ts began to scratch actively in the African bone la nd s. It wa s th en th at ar ch eo lo gi st s be ga n to Whi sp er b eh in d th ei r ha nd s an d ex ch an ge gl an ce s. It co nc er ne d, of cou rs e, a ce rt ai n sku ll. Tha t in it sel f was bad eno ugh , but what ens ued was wors e.

H

EWAS

a n ap e, th ey ha d sa id in th e be - gi nn in g: "A cr ea tu re la ck in g th e di s- ti nc ti ve te mp or al ex pa ns io ns wh ic h ap pe ar to be conc om it an t wi th an d ne ce ss ar y t o a r t i c u l a t e m a n i s no t r u e m a n ." T h e n the re had com e tha t fri ght eni ng ins ist enc e on the part of hi s disc ove rer tha t he had use d fire and too ls. The lit tle fel low was p rom ptl y red esc rib ed. His typ e was cit ed in glowi ng ter ms as "i nte l- li ge nt , en er ge ti c, er ec t, an d de li ca te ly pr o- portioned little people." He was credited wi th sp ee ch , an d sp ok en of re sp ec tf ul ly as a potential human ancestor. It was more com- fo rt ab le th at wa y. Ot he rw is e yo u we re con - fr on te d wi th a sp ec ta cl e li ke Du ns an y's my s- ter iou s Abu La hee b, tha t str ang e bei ng squ at- ti ng ove r it s lo ne ly fi re in th e ma rs he s- th e on ly be as t in th e wo rl d th at ma de fi re lik e man. The myt hic al Abu Lah eeb sur viv ed by hid - in g in th e pa py ru s sw am ps of th e upp er Ni le .

Australopithe cus prometheus,