pithead

[Eng. pit, and head.] The surface of the ground at the mouth of a pit or mine. pithecanthropi pith-ec-ăn-thro-pi, s. pl. [Greek pithēkos =an apo, and an.hrōpos =a man.] Biol.: Ape-men; apelike men; the twenty-first stage in Haeckel's scheme of evolution, connecting the Anthropoid Apes with Man. "These Ape-like men, or Pithecanthropi , very probably existed toward the end of the Tertiary period. They originated out of the Man-like Apes, or An thro poi des, by becoming completely habituated to an upright walk, and, by the corresponding stronger differentiation of both pairs of legs. The fore-hand of the An thro poi des became the human hand, their hinder hand became a foot for walking They did not po e the real and chief characteristic of man, namely, the articulate human language of words, the corresponding development of a higher consciousne , and the formation of ideas."Haeckel: Hist. Creation (Eng. ed.), ii. 293. pi-the-çi-a, 8. (PITHECUS.] Zool.: Saki (q. v.); a genus of Pitheciine (q. v.), with the characters of the sub-family, but having the tail long. There are seven species, from the equatorial forests of South America. "In the rounded contour of the frontal region, Pithecia presents great resemblance to man." ( Mivart.)