Little troglodytes

In efforts to understand evolution, identification of transitional forms has been extremely important. Presently the fossil record offers ample evidence of how one type of organism was modified into something distinct, but has not always been so. In the past, development seemed like it might provide clues as to what the ancestors of particular organisms looked like via the "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" argument.

Simply put, the concept envisions that during development organisms "replay" their evolution. This was particularly tied to embryology, but it was also extended to childhood development in our species. Since we evolved from savage and crude ancestors, some thought that children passed through stages that corresponded to our evolution from apes. Young boys, in particular, were thought of as little cavemen as they ran about brandishing sticks in the yard.

Today we know this view of childhood development is incorrect, but it seemed absurd even when it was relatively new. As with many subjects involving natural history and evolution, it was justly satirized in Punch;

When Edward, crawling on the floor,
Invades the eight-day clock,
Pray do not spank him any more
For dirtying his frock.

Evolution and Self-Expression
He is a little troglodyte,
As were our sires before us,
Who vanished when there hove in sight
The grim ichthyosaurus.

When, aetat. four, with savage joy
The hunter's art he plies
Upon the panes, don't scold the boy
For torturing the flies.
He has but reached the second scene
When men were all the scions
Of mighty Nimrod, and were keen
On slaying bears and lions.

At six, ambitious Edward yearns
A pirate king to be;
The tables into ships he turns,
And sails the fireside sea.
Then if the things are smashed to bits,
Don't give the boy a licking;
He's reached a further phase, and its
The aeon of the Viking.

A little, and the pirate bold
A patriot becomes;
He fights the rascal imps who hold
In force the neighbouring slums.
Pray don't repress his noble rage,
E'en though his nose be gory ;
He is but passing through the age
Of good Queen Bess's glory.

Last scene of all that ends this slight
But most eventful play
Is symbol of the lofty height
Achieved by man to-day.
At ten can Edward understand
What money means : he's willing
To be a saint for sixpence, and
An angel for a shilling.