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The Omaha Sunday-Bee Magazine Page
rum - ... . . .- .-. . " -" " - 11
The Interesting
Answer of
Evolui ionary
Science to the
Perplexing
Problem
of Where
Adam's Oldest
Son Found
His Mate
By Rutledge Rutherford,
The Distinguished American Ethnologist
CAIN -was tlfe oldest son ol Adam and,
Eve, according to tho Jehovlstlc ac
count of the Creation tho flm born
of the human race. His birth Is reported In
the first vorso of the eventful fourth chap
ter of Genesis: "Eve bare Cain and said I
hayo gotten a man of tho Lord." The next
verso tells of the birth of Abel, the second
son. Cain was a tiller of tho ground and
Abel a keeper of sheep. The rejection of
Cain's offering, the "fruit of tho ground"
ground, earth or dust betokening material
ity and the acceptance of Abel's, the
"firstlings of his flock" sheep, especially
laiftbs, signifying meekness and spiritual
ity so enraged Cain that ho Blow his,
brother. Thereupon Cain was condemned to!
bo a fugitive and a vagabond, and a marii
was placed upon him, bo the fifteenth versdl
declares, but straightway the sixteenth
verse asserts, rather contrarily, that ho
went and dwelt in tho Land of Nod, and
the seventeenth that his wife "bare Enoch,
and he builded a city and called tho name
of tho city after tho namo of
his son, Enoch."
Now, who could have been
the wife of Cain?
"Whence tho people to popu
late the city of Enoch?
Who were tho Inhabitants
of tho Land of Nod?
Questions as old as civiliza
tion, all, and varying have
been the attempted answers,
havo been tho attempted an
swers. Cain's wlfo enters tho nar
rative somewhat obstrusely,
it Is noted. She is tho sec
ond woman mentioned In tho
Bible, tho first ofter Eve.
The story Is explicit enough
as to Eve's origin, but seems to leave us
In tho dark as to when, where and how
Cain's wlfo camo Into being. As Abel had
been killed, the birth of Soth not yet re
corded, and no mention so far made of
other "sons and daughters," it would be
supposed that there were only three people
in the world up to this time Adam, Eve
and Cain and that Eve was tho only wom
an. Hence, unless there were other pro
genitors of the human race, there could
have been no woman for Cain to marry.
After the mention of Cain's wlfo, the Land
of Nod, and the founding of tho city of
Enoch, this same salient fourth chapter, in
the twenty-fifth verse, reports tho birth of
Seth. And In the twenty-sixth and last
verse we aro confronted with another prob
lem in tho birth of a son to Seth.
"To explain all this as literal history,"
one theologian avers, "were to attribute
other perfection to tho Deity than Infinite
power, spirituality and wlBdom."
So great are the difficulties that the Church
of England does not demand' a literal un
derstanding. Yet Augustine and the Re
formers hold out for the literal, as do many
other authorities. Tlie style of the narra
tive gives no indication that any other in
terpretation was intended, but all efforts to
this end fall wide the mark of consistency,
making the text literal at times and then
figurative as necessity demands.
Coleridge argues that It Is an allegory. In
tho same light it Is viewed by Ambrose,
Origen, and the Greek Fathers of Alexan
dria. Philo allegorizes it In a purely spirit
ual sense.
But, as Dr. Samuel Davidson asserts,
there Is not tho slightest Indication that an
allegory was Intended.
"Had this been the case," ho says, "tho
truths meant to be conveyed would have
been easily discovered. The embarrassment
and capriclousness of the allegorical Inter
preters prove that they are following a
wrong method."
Caln-worshipplng religions In their vile
Interpretations actually reversed the con
ventional concept of morality. Such were
the Calnltes who paid obeisance to all the
evil characters of the Old Testament, In
cluding Potlphar's wife, Esau, Korah, Jeze
bel and Delilah; the Adamites who appeared
naked at their assemblies and rejected the
marriage form as an outgrowth of sin; the
Ophites who Inculcated indifference to all
actions and held that nothing was really
evil by nature; and the followers of Car
pocrates, Eplphanes and Cyranus. All iden
tified the serpent with tho Redeeming
World and tried to transform the Power
of Evil into the Ideal of Good.
Thus they have gone on interpreting the
story in all manner of ways and making it
the basis of all manner of beliefs. And with
these and all the manifold explanations by
scholars and creeds, the perpetual crux of
the Story of Cain, beginning with the Crea
tion and made the topic of the newest
opera to entertain society, comes down to
us through the ages. And shallwe say it
is no nearer solution to-day tlian at the
beginning?
No! For this is the age of science. Since
science has worked out so many other puz
zles, we have turned Its light on the Story
of Cain, and, lo! we find a solution.
There are two accounts of the creation,
"Cain and His Family" Tho Remarkable Painting by F. Cormou, tho Famous
French ArtiBt, in Which tho Pain tor 'a Inspiration Has Nearly Touohed the
Conclusions of Science as to the Appearance of Oain and His Wife.
As Oain Himself Probably Looked. A
Reconstruction of the Earliest
Earth Man.
bo it rememborod one handed down to us
in the immortal pages of tho floly Writ,
the other gleaned from the strata of tho
earth, the chemist's retort 'and the observa
tion of life about us. Onco we believed
them opposed to each other, but with tho
passing of prejudice and the broadening of
men's minds, they are appearing In closer
and closer agreement. In fact, each Is prov
ing an aid to tho other. May wo not 6ome
day find them but two ways of telling the
same story, each confirming the other?
In evolution yes, tho once ecclesiastical
ly condemned Darwinian theory wo havo
found the only rational explanation of the
Story of Cain that over has been offered.
Evolution teaches that all existing higher
forms of life have been developed by uni
form laws from lower forms, that material
man through many and varied stages, cov
ering a period of mayhap four hundred mill
ion years, has evolved from some single
celled amoeba-like creature In which both
sexes were combined. At some remote time
the Miocene period, perhaps the highest
form of life on earth was a kind of Anthro
poid or Near-Man with thirteen pairs of
ribs, as the apes have, but far advanced
above apes In other respects. Ho was a
gregariouB being, wandering about in largo
hordes and building temporary habitats in
the treesy His houses were of leaves and
branches bound together with long and
slender parasitic plants and lined inside
qulto cozily with the dried fronds of palms
and long grasses. Immense settlements of
tho kind they were the first cities ex
isted in certain tropical localities where tho
food was most plentiful. In time this An
thropoid lost one pair of his ribs, became
more erect and dwelt more on the ground.
Formerly he was tho "Tree Man," we might
say, and latterly the "Earth Man."
The Tree Man concerns us mainly now,
for It Is to his kind we must look for solu
tion of the earth-old problem of Cain's wife.
But let us disabuse our minds of the
impression that our Miocene progenitors
were the ungainly looking, hairy creatures
that were formerly pictured. Skulls and
skeletons recently unearthed have success
fully controverted this view, and revealed
them to us as beings of far more pleasing
appearance. Then it Is known that we find
some of tho most shapely physical forms
among certain savage races.
Nevertheless, the Tree Men were not
quite far enough advanced to be classed
as human beings. They were somewhat
smaller than people of to-day, but their
principal shortcoming was in mentality.
They were of aesthetic tastes, for we have
unmistakable proof of their penchant for
art and music, and they preferred to dwell
amid beautiful environments. Their lan
guage was extremely rude, but they could
sing sweetly; anthropologists assuro us
that our progenitors could sing even beforo
they could talk. In- song or chanting they
expressed most of .their emotions of love,
desire, regrot and victory. But tho true
song was oxpresslvo oi love and courtship
even from tho beginning. In these re
spects at least, the progenitors of man dif
fered radically from tho apes.
Now, at somo stage In evolution there oc
curred a change which advanced tho then
dominant form from anthropoid to man.
Very small tho change might have been to
mark tho Great Transition tho most re
markable step in all time. Somewhere
In Tropical Africa, Darwin boHaves, and
Sir William "Wlllcocks recently discovered
In Egypt a strip of land which many be
lieve to havo been tho Garden of Eden
there existed a tribe further advanced than
any in the world at that time. And in that
tribe there appeared some one or two in
dividuals superior to all tho rest of tho
tribe. There wero two, according to tho
Biblical account, a male and a female. On
tho principle of sexual selection the domi
nant male of tho tribe naturally would
have chosen for his mate the most ad
vanced female, and she would have pre
ferred this man. It was a mental change
that produced their advancement, a mero
spark of tho human knowledge which has
grown into a brighter and brighter light
with succeeding ages. They were the first
man and woman, the parents of Cain and
the human race.
The word Adam in tho Johovistlc text
is from the Hebrew "eth-ha-adam," mean
ing tho Earth Man. Eve is from the He
brew, "Havvah," derived from "hayoh," "to
live," and was applied to the first woman
as "tho mother of all living." The names
are equally applicable to the evolutionary
account, therofore. Through the combined
advantages of heredity and superior paren
tal training, it would seem, from the stand
point of Bcience, that the children of this
first couple might have advanced beyond
their parents. Very rapid progression
naturally would have followed the attain
ment of human knowledge, a point where
mind counted for most in the struggle for
existence. It Is also probable that these
first human beings especially the chil
dren, Cain, Abel and Seth were more pow
erful physically than any other of their
tribesmen, and that they were the heads
of the tribe.
Now tho tribe which possessed theso
dominant individuals must havo been in
close proximilty to the wandering tribes
of Tree Men and their habitats.
Being conscience-stricken after the mur.
der of his brother, it is reasonable to sup
pose that Cain might have Joined one of
these roving hordes and from among, them
chosen his wife.
In this, then, we have a simple solution
of the problem which has been bothering
the world for so long.
The tribes dwelling near the Earth Men
must have been nearly as far advanced as
they; and Cain, by the same principle of
sexual selection, would have chosen a wife
from among tho handsomest and most hu
man like of them. This being so, his chil
dren, at least some of them, would have
Inherited bis human characteristics and
continued to advance. And thus tho race
begun by Adam and Eve would have been
perpetuated and constantly Improved. The
Land of Nod mentioned in the Fourth
Chapter of Genesis, was probably inhabited
by a colony of these Tree Men.
The. City of Enoch that Cain founded
was perhaps only a very large community
of Tree Men and tree houses, the only
kind of city known to the Miocene world.
Very likely It was one of several such
communities in the Land of Nod, which,
we are told, was to the east of Eden.
These tribes wandered about and estab
lished temporary abodes wherever food
could bo obtained with least effort. This
explanation further romedlen the apparent
contradiction between tho condemnation of
Cain to lead a nomadic Hfo and IiIb subse
quent settlement In a city.
Wo havo shown that at some stage the
Tree Man lost one pair of his ribs. Tho
sub-conscious knowledgo of this and of the
Tact that In a former stago tho earth was
inhabited exclusively by androgynous forms
whlph .later wero divided into tho two sexes
male and female may havo manifested
itself, in the Biblical narratlvo that Evo.
was made out of the rib of Adam. Like
wise, many savage tribes havo traditions
that they sprung from beasts, thlB being
the significance of tho totem pole. And
among most ancient Egyptian myths there
was a belief that the oldest human being
had been of animal nature, capable only of
Inarticulate sounds until tho god Thot had
taught them both languago and writing.
Darwinism thus had its precursor in tho
very child ago of civilization.
Just at what stage In evolution the pro
genitor of the human race was entitled to
rank as man must forever remain a matter
of conjecture. There aro many races of men,
and some of them differ as widely as tho
blue-eyed Caucasians from the black-sklnnod
Ethiopians.
In Mloceno times the flora of tropica'
Africa had reached a pinnacle of luxuriance
unknown before or since, and the first man's
abode there must have been a Garden of
Eden In truth.
They remained in this earthly paradise un
til tho Increased population forced them from
the favored locality, and they were compelled
to till tho soil and domesticate animals as a
moans of subsistence. Hence wo find Cain
a tiller of the soil and Abel a keeper ot
sheep. The dog and sboep aro known to
have been among the earliest animals do
mesticated. Cain's occupation would Indi
cate that he had a fixed habitation until ha
committed tho murder end Joined one ot the
nomadic Tree tribes, bringing to them their
first knowledge of agriculture perhaps. Be
ing the son of the first human beings', he
probably became chief of the tribe of Near
"Men with which he was allied, for he must
have excelled all the otherB, both physically
and mentally. The most human-like woman
of the' tribe would have been the most in
telligent and the prettiest. By the law of
sexual selection she and Cain would Imme
diately have fallen In love with each other,
for at' that time lovers Judged each other
solely by external appearance. It was the
age ot applied practical eugenics.
So we have every ground for concluding
that Cain's wife was handsome, the most
handsome creature In the world at that time,
perhaps, with the possible exception of Eve.
Her mother-in-law may have looked down on
her somewhat because she was not quite
good enough to be called a human being, but
what else could Cain do when there was no
other human beings In the world for him
to marry? Cain's wife could dance, no doubt,
for that was one of the earliest accomplish
ments, we aro told, and the inherited bias
for her wild and free kind of dancing is
often displayed by her sex until this day.
But she must have looked very different
from our modern tango girl In other re
spects than her entire absence of clothtng.
I fancy her a creature very swift of foot,
young, agile and playful. She could climb
trees and swing from limb to limb In u
manner that would have demanded for her
the highest salary on any vaudeville cir
cuit ot to-day. She was smaller ot statue
than modern women. Her head was rather
enlongated, or dolichocephalic as scientists
say, and her toes were prehensile, enabling
her to grasp objects with her feet as well as
with her hands. Even to-day there are
people in museums who can play the piano
with their toes. Her complexion was ot
a dark reddish brown; (t Is probable that
she had blue eyes, though thero Is much
doubt on this point, and her coarse hair
was of very dark brown, nearly black.
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A Scientific Reconstruction of a Tree Woman of the Miocen
Period, One of Which Was, Perhaps, the Wife of Oain.
The Stars' Promise for July
THE lunation ruling July, which
occurs near the close of Juno,
JL.
Is essentially a Mercurial one,
with Virgo on the ascendant and
Gemini culminating with Saturn the
elevated planet In the scheme.
Tho President, as well as Eastern
executives, will need to safeguard
health, as denoted by the position
ot Saturn. It looks as it Bryan were
nearlng his conge, with tho approach
of Saturn to a Bquare of his Sun; a
lack ot popularity is shown both In
statesmanship and tho lecture field,
as well as a general depletion ot ner
vous and physical vitality.
The markets aro unstable, no con
fidence to bo placed In the upward
spurtB that occur here and there;
the money interests likewise Jeop
ardized, though no serious failures
are indicated. Crop reports will be
doctored to suit tho industrial exi
gencies, but results will not uphold
the same.
Specific Incidents on or near the
following dates:
July 2 A social scandal ot some
prominence, looks like the airing
of a family skeleton, Stocks very
erratic on this and following day.
The 3d shows high winds, with storm
formations.
July 16 A very active market on
this and the follqwlng day, wide fluc
tuations. Mercury as the ruler of
of tho winds Is also to the front
The State Department gains a van
tage point in the Mexican situation,
If the same does not go further
afield; also looks like a protocol or
a treaty consummated.
July 20-21 Disturbing times in
Congress. Tho probable failure of a
Wall Street concern; suspicious ma
nipulations in that quarter.
The last week of the month is In
the nature ot upheaval, turbulent
times, more especially between the
24th and 28th atmospheric, eco
nomic and in admlnlbtratlve chan
nels. Tho last two days are Im
proved. The Good Demon of Astrology,
Jupiter, sheds his beneficent rays
this month upon those born in the
first nine months ot 1851, Spring of
1853, in 1855, Springs ot 1859 and
186S, Winters ot 1864 (changes),
1887 and 1809. Fall of 1870, Springs
of 1871 and 1874, Summer of 1876,
Winters of 1879 and 1883, Summer
of 1884, Fall ot 1880. Winter of 1891.
in 1894, and Fall ot 1898; or In the
second week of February, April.
Juno, near middle ot July or Decem
ber of any year.
Conversely, Saturn throws a low
ering cloud over those born in the
third week ot March, June, Septem
ber or December ot any year,'
Copyright, 1914, by the Star Company. Great Britain Illghts Reserved.
