ABSTRACT
In On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin does not explain to what extent his theory of the evolution of species by means of natural selection is applicable to mankind; he only hints that in the distant future light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history. Thomas Henry Huxley - who became known as 'Darwin's bulldog for his defence of evolution theory - was also present at this meeting, and in his own recollection of the event, he gave Owen's assertions a direct and unqualified contradiction, pledging to justify that unusual procedure elsewhere. According to Alvar Ellegard, the 'lowbrow press' quickly focused on the question of the descent of man and Darwin's theory became popularly known as the 'ape theory'. Du Chaillu is strongly aware not only of physical similarities between man and ape, he even hears 'something terribly human' in the animal's death-groan, its 'brutishness' underscores the animal nature of the sound and its producer.
