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FERAL CHILDREN RESEARCH PROJECT
Phase One: The Early Writings

Georges Dodds'
The Ape-Man his Kith and Kin
A collection of texts which prepared the advent of
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Collated by Georges Dodds Ph.D.

The Georges Dodds Project Intro
Go directly to the texts

Feral children, also known as wild children or wolf children, are children who've grown up with minimal human contact, or even none at all. They may have been raised by animals (often wolves) or somehow survived on their own. In some cases, children are confined and denied normal social interaction with other people.

Occasionally throughout our history, civilized society has come across a "wild child" who has grown up in  isolation with virtually no human contact. Many researchers believe that we're born with the principles of language, but if a first language isn't acquired by puberty it may be too late -- we just don't have the neurological development. It also appears that there's a particular period in the life of humans when they're ripe for learning languages. Studies of feral children who have had little contact with humans during the critical ages of one through four years show that they've had tremendous difficulty mastering language and reintegrating with humans.

Languages are complex and dynamic -- constantly evolving according to the needs of societies. To some degree humans appear to have the innate ability to form languages and many feral children learn to mimic animal sounds: barking, growling, whining, howling, bird sounds, etc., But research suggests that it takes the interaction with other humans to develop a form of communication with any degree of complexity. We are the result of complex interactions between the environment and our genes.

Many of the "wild children" raised in isolation are found to be quite uncivilized and barely able to walk or talk. They are unable to empathize with of the needs and desires of other humans -- they don't even identify themselves as human. The concepts of morals, property and possessions are alien to them. Many of them prove to be surly, uncooperative and self-centred individuals -- a far cry from the Noble Savage notion put forth by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

A study of feral children suggests that our upbringing is entirely responsible for endowing us with language, the ability to think and other traits. What happens in early childhood thus has a profound impact on the neurological development of the brain:

"Studies of childhood abuse and neglect have important lessons for considerations of nature and nurture. While each child has unique genetic potentials, both human and animal studies point to important needs that every child has, and severe long-term consequences for brain function if those needs are not met. The effects of the childhood environment, favorable or unfavorable, interact with all the processes of neurodevelopment."
~ Dr Bruce D Perry, Childhood Experience and the Expression of Genetic Potential

"The importance of early intervention and attention to the chronicity of environmental adversity may indicate the need for permanent alternative caregivers, in order to preserve the development of the most vulnerable children. . . . Child abuse and neglect are (wo)man-made phenomena which adversely affect a child's development and sometimes survival, and which should, at least in theory, be preventable."
~ Danya Glaser, Child Abuse and Neglect and the Brain

Obviously research studies in this field are of major importance to educators to whom a knowledge of language, moral, and overall neurological development of students of all ages is of vital concern when designing educational programs and instructional techniques. The Internet is an ideal forum for the collation of related articles and research on this subject. Until now there has never been an attempt made to scan the rare early writings on the subject of feral children, so as to present them to researchers at one location for open access study.

The most famous feral child in fiction is probably Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan. The character was introduced in Burroughs' 1912 novel, Tarzan of the Apes, and soon became a cultural icon. John "Tarzan" Clayton, the young orphan of Lord and Lady Greystoke, was raised by an advanced "missing link" tribe of anthropoids in the African jungles. He learned their rudimentary language as a young child and later taught himself to read from his dead parents' collection of primers and other children picture books -- an interesting case study. Using this fictional character as a rallying point I have worked with Dr. Georges Dodds of McGill University to present and document almost 100 feral-related works that inspired this literary phenomenon. I believe that the discovery and perusal of these many thousands of pages and illustrations will serve as an impetus for further research in the field.

Marie Angélique Memmie LeBlanc  .Kamala  .Gazelle Boy - possibly a phoney
William G. Hillman ~ Assistant Professor
Faculty of Education ~ Brandon University
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
The Georges Dodds Project Intro
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CONTENTS NAVIGATION CHART
.
THE APE MAN
KITH & KIN
.
1800: 1701-1800 Cont 1800a Chrono 1801: ERBzine Introduction 1802 Dodds' Advent Project Intro 1803 Apeman Kith & Kin
1804 ERB: Tarzan of the Apes 1805 AJ Ogilvy: Ape-Man 1806 Roland: Almost a Man 1807 Ducray-Duminil: 2 Children
1808 Anonymous: Autonous History 1809 Leroux: Balaoo | 2 | 3 1810 Sargent: Beyond Banyans 1811 Purchas: Battell in Angola
1812 Berthet: Wild Man | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1813 Buel: Dark Continent | 1a | 2 | 2a | 1814 Rickett: Caliban Quickening 1815 Lounsberry: Golden Crater
1816 Gracian: The Critick 1817 Court: Kingdom of Apes 1818 Gomez: Historia de Dulcarnain 1819 Roland: Missing Link
1820 Hyne: New Eden 1821 Eldridge: Monkey Man 1822 Beaulieu: French Cabin Boy 1823 Anon: Monkey-Land Mems
1824 Ballantine: Gorilla Hunters  | 2 | 1825 Anon: Gorilla Origin of Man 1826 Gozlan: Monkey Island 1827 Granucci: Bella Favola
1828 Haggard: Allan's Wife 1829 d'Hampol: Missing Link 1830 Hauff: Young Englishman 1831 Dodillon: Hemo
1832 Longueville: The Hermit 1833 Constable: Intellect Curse 1834 Favenc: Jinkarras Haunt 1835 Gabriel: Jocko Brazil Monkey
1836 Graydon: Jungle Boy 1837 Kipling: Jungle Book | a | 1838 Kipling: Second Jungle Book 1839 Kirkby: AutoMathes History
1840 Stacpoole: Blue Lagoon | 2 | 1841 Davidson: Lavender Mission 1842 LeRoy: Levrai Adventure 1843 Anon: Chevalier Dreams
1844 Sheridan: Young Marooner | 2 | 1845 Marryat: Little Savage 1846 Standish: Gorilla Land Link 1847 JF Cooper: Monikins | 2 |
1848 Moustache: Old Man & Ape 1849 Fogerty: Mr. Jocko 1850 Nye: Monkey Language Exp.
Georges Dodds Index
1851 Mallock: Positivism On Island 1852 Griffiths: Peters 1853 Pougens/Dodds: Jocko 1854 Robertson: Primordial Laws
1855 Plutarch: Romulus 1856 Anon: Surprising Adventures 1857 Mighels: Crystal Scepter 1858: Alden: Darwinian Schooner
1859: Brookfield: Simiocracy 1860 Robinson: Soko Hunting 1861 Smile: Soong Sumatra 1862 Muddock: Sunless City  | 2 |
1863 Cole: Humans with Tails 1864 Lermina: Goldslayer | 2 | 3 | 1865 Morgan: Missing Link | 2 | 1866 Seriman: Incognite Australi
1867 Graydon: Africa White King | 2 | 1868 Tufail: Hayy Ibn Yaqzân 1869 Lugones/Dodds: Yzur 1870 Curwen: Zit & Xoe
1871 Lemon: Gorilla 1872 Period Reviews 1873 Postl: Mexico Nights 1874 Rice: Katie's Forest Friends
1875 Frankenstein: Boy & Elephant 1876 Dark Continent Art Gallery 1 1877 Dark Continent Art Gallery 2 1878 Dark Continent Art Gallery 3
1879 Dark Continent Art Gallery 4 1880 Dark Continent Art Gallery 5 1881 Dark Continent Art Gallery 6 1882 Dark Continent Gallery 7
1883 Dark Continent Gallery 8 1884 Anon: Crusoe Graves 1885 Fitzpatrick: Jock/Bushwald 1886 Sleeman: Wolves/Children
1887 Haggard: Nada the Lily | 2 | 3 | 4 1888 Brady: Regeneration Island | 2 | 3 | 1890 Speyer: Bobbi the Chimp 1891 Robida: Monkey King
1892 Hofland: Young Crusoe 1893 Wildman Baboo's Good Tiger 1894 Stephens: Indian Devil 1895 Stockwell: Wolf-Children
1896 Remington: Ermine | 2 | 1897 Belisle Am Family Robinson 1898 Garner: Apes & Monkeys | 2 | 3 | 1899 Candland: Fact, Fiction, Legend
Recent Additions: 2102: Dodds: Joe the Jungle Boy 2103: Dodds: Valentine & Olson 2104: Graydon: Jungle Trappers |a| |b|
2105 DuBois: Feral Child/Fact & Fiction 2106 Feral Children News 2007 2107 Sieveking: Wild Things
2108 Noble: Correct Taste 2122 Robinson: Noah's Ark 2123 Merry's Museum: Wild People
2155 Stredder: Alive in the Jungle 2156 Cornish: Wild Boy of Pindus 2157 Dodds: Feral Humans in Newspapers
2838 Dodds: Val and I | a | b | c | d | e 2839 Dodds: Semant Illustrations 3914 Feral Children: 10 More Cases
Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder
James DeMille 1888
. .

Issues 1901-2000: Centennium XX ~ Ape Man Kith & Kin: Simian Fiction Section

1900: 1801-1900 Contents Chrono 1901:  1902 Simian Fiction Contents 1903: Authors A1 | A2 | A3 | A4
1904: AuthorsB1 1905: C1 1906: D1 1907: E1
1908: F1 1909: G1 1910: H1 1911: I1
1912: J1 1913: K1 1914: L1 1915: M1
1916: N1 1917: OPQ1 1918: R1 1919: S1
1920: T1 1921: UV1 1922: W1 1923: XYZ1

A Research Project
Georges T. Dodds  Ph. D.
Department of Bioresources Engineering
Macdonald Campus of McGill University
Sainte Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, Canada  H9X 3V9



Sample Art From
Heroes of the Dark Continent by J. W. Buel
Found at ERBzine 1813 and ERBzine 1813a



Click for full-size collage poster



Go directly to the texts

More Web Resources
The impact of abuse and neglect on neurological development
Nurtured by Love or Matured by Nature by Dr Susan du Plessis
Child Abuse and Neglect and the Brain
Childhood Experience and the Expression of Genetic Potential
Nova: Secrets of the Wild Child

William G. Hillman
e-Mail: hillmans@wcgwave.ca
Assistant Professor (ret.)
Faculty of Education
Brandon University
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
www.hillmanweb.com
Dr. Georges T. Dodds
e-Mail: georges.dodds@mcgill.ca
Research Associate
Department of Bioresources Engineering
Macdonald Campus of McGill University
Sainte Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, Canada
H9X 3V9
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