DARWINISM SUPERSEDED.

Evening Star, Issue 3230, 27 June 1873, Page 3

DARWINISM SUPERSEDED.

Tfe@ following from tha pen of Professor JT. H Seelye, and clipped from an Indian paper, has been forwarded to the Colonist. The paper states the story told by the Professor suggests that Darwin’s theory of the descent of man may be superseded by another, taking the ground that the lower creation is man’s descendant rather than his ancestor;—“ Not far from Agra, in Northern India, is a mission station of the Church Missionary Society, connected with which is an orphanage with several hundred children, now under the efficient care of the Rev. E, G. Erhardt. The region around is infested with wolves, by which every year numbers of children are carried off and devoured. But in two instances, at least, instead of being killed and eaten, the children have been kept alive and nourished with, if not by these beasts. Whether the story of Romulus and Remus be a myth or not, t]wß is an actual reality, for the tb,em,selves have been paptured fropo among the wolves and |proi\ght tp the'orphanage above menUphea. They' were feoth boy* and ap* i palreutiy of sonae seven or eight years of age Wken taken, They were found at differtnt times, the last one in March of the present year. Some hunters, smoking wolves out of a cave, were startled when the wolves appeared by the appearance among them of a creature looking strangely human, but running rapidly on all fours like the wolves, though not so rapidly as they. He was caught with difficulty, and there was no mistaking that he was a child of human parentage, but with the habits and actions and appetites of a wild beast. The hunters brought him to the orphanage, where he was received and cared for. Though his physical form and features were sufficient to show that he was a Hindoo child, there were no other indications about him of anything human. In all other respects, in the language of Mr fjrhardt, perfegfc animal.’' j He h&d no speech but a whine. He would i wear no clothes, tearing from him everything 1 of the sort, whenever put on. i • e would eat • nothing but raw flesh, and lapped water with bis tongue, When left, to himself he would ' bide in some dark spot during the day from which he would come out at night, and prowl about the enclosure, picking up bones if any were to be found and ravenously gnaw ing them. It at first seemed impossible for him to walk erect, but after much diffi-

culfcy he was taught to do so, and also to use a fork and spoon and to drink like a human being. Though treated with the utmost care and greatest patience and kindness by the Christian hands and hearts whieh received him, he pined away and died after he bad been in the orphanage a little over four months. In all this time he ceuld not be made to utter a word; he was never seen to smile, nor show any signs of joy, or shame or gratitude. But Mr Erhardt, who gave me this account, assured me that his face looked more intelligent than the average of Hindoo children, and that his color and features indicated that his parentage must have been in a family of high caste. The other boy I saw myself a few days since at the orphanage, whore he was brought up six years ago, having been then captured, much as was the first mentioned boy, and having shown precisely the same habits as belonged to him. He has not yet spoken a word, but has changed the whine, which was at first his only utterance, ior sounds expressive of pleasure, and apparently also of gratitude. He no longer prefers raw flesh for food, but eats bread and fruits with ravenous avidity. He walked erect, but with a strangely awkward gait, throwing out his hands with every step. His hands are perfectly formed, but he uses them awkwardly, A piece of bread tossed to him from a little distance, which be was eager to get, he could not catch, but let it fall clumsily to the ground. He wears clothes, to which he was at first as averse as the other boy. His forehead is low, but his face would hardly be called dull, and certainly not idiotic. His eyes have a wild and restless, but not enquiring look. His jaws are not protruding, and his teeth are well formed and thorongly human. He has been taught to do some kinds of work, but not faithfully. He seems to have lost all desire to escape; he mingles freely with the other children, among whom he has his favorites. When the boy first mentioned was brought to the orphanage, this one was made to understand that he mast teach the other how to eat and drink and walk, and much of the improvement of the younger one in these respects seemed due to the efforts of the older one.”