The Descent of Man

arms and whole upper part of the body should
be free; and he must for this end stand firmly
on his feet. To gain this great advantage, the
feet have been rendered flat; and the great toe
has been peculiarly modified, though this has
entailed the almost complete loss of its power
of prehension. It accords with the principle of
the division of physiological labour, prevailing
throughout the animal kingdom, that as the
hands became perfected for prehension, the feet
should have become perfected for support and
locomotion. With some savages, however, the
foot has not altogether lost its prehensile power,
as shewn by their manner of climbing
trees, and of using them in other ways. (74.
Haeckel has an excellent discussion on the
steps by which man became a biped: 'Naturliche
Schopfungsgeschicte,' 1868, s. 507. Dr.
Buchner ('Conferences sur la Theorie Darwinienne,'
1869, p. 135) has given good cases of
the use of the foot as a prehensile organ by
man; and has also written on the manner of