SECOND COMPETITION
THE EDITOR OFFERS A PRIZE OF £5 FOR AN EPITAPH IN NOT MORE THAN SIX LINES OF VERSE OR SIXTY WORDS OF PROSE ON "AUSTRALOPITHECUS AFRICANUS," THE SO- CALLED APE-MAN.
READERS who have not followed recent news with close attention will perhaps be glad of a short elucidation. Pro- fessor Raymond Dart, of Johannesburg, has discovered the fossil skull of an ape which was very much more intelligent and very much nearer to- man than any surviving species. It walked upright and carried its head erect, not pushed forward as in the gorilla and the chimpanzee. Probably it had already learned to make extensive use of its hands and arms ; it had not the long receding forehead of the anthropoids, nor their ridged and prominent eyebrows ; its lower jaw was human in shape and size. It seems that it was not able to talk ; but there can be no doubt that it possessed much greater powers of reasoning and memory than the apes. This Taungs Man, or Australopithecus Afri- canus, as Professor Dart has named it, is half way between man and ape and deserves that often misapplied title, ape- man. The solitary individual of the race who now takes his place in history died before maturity : he still possessed his milk teeth, but even so his brain was only a trifle smaller than that of the most exceptional gorilla. It is the epitaph of this individual that the Editor would like to see written ; but if anyone should prefer to write an epitaph upon the whole race of ape-man he will be within the rules of the competition.
RULES.
1. All entries must be received on or before Friday, March 6th.
2. Competitors may send in as many entries as they wish, but bath entry must be accompanied by one of the coupons to be found on page 255 of this issue.
3. The name and address (or the pseudonym) of every com- petitor must be written clearly at the foot of his manuscript. 4. The Editor cannot return any manuscript submitted for the competition, nor can he enter into correspondence with competitors. 5. The Editor reserves the right of printing any manuscript submitted.
6. Envelopes must be addressed : Competition, the Spectator, 13 York Street, Covent Garden, London, We. 2.
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