74 



reddish, and of more greyish, hairs with the dusky coloured ones 

 which chiefly constitute the f pelage :' and the above admixture 

 varies at different parts of the body. The reddish hairs are so 

 numerous on the scalp, especially along the upper middle region, as 

 to make their tint rather predominate there; they blend in a less 

 degree with the long hairs upon the sides of the face. The greyish 

 hairs are found mixed with the dusky upon the dorsal, deltoidal 

 and anterior femoral, regions; but on the limbs, not in such pro- 

 portion as to affect the impression of the general dark colour, at 

 first view. Near the margin of the vent are a few short whitish 

 hairs, as in the chimpanzee. The epiderni of the back shewed the 

 effects of habitual resting, with that part against the trunk or 

 branch of a tree, occasioning the hair to be more or less rubbed 

 off : the epithelium was here very thick and tough. 



It is most probable, from the degree of admixture of different 

 coloured hairs above described, that a living gorilla seen in bright 

 sunlight, would in some positions reflect from its surface a colour 

 much more different from, that of the chimpanzee than appears by 

 a comparison of the skin of a dead specimen sent home in spirits. 

 It can hardly be doubted, also, that age will make an appreciable 

 difference in the general coloration of the Troglodytes gorilla. 



The adult male gorilla measures five feet six inches from the 

 sole to the top of the head, the breadth across the shoulders is 

 nearly three feet, the length of the upper limb is three feet four 

 inches, that of the lower limb is two feet four inches; the length 

 of the head and trunk is three feet six inches, whilst the same 

 dimension in man does not average three feet. 



In the foregoing remarks are given the results of direct obser- 

 vations made on the first and only entire specimen of the gorilla 

 which has reached England. A more important labour, however, 

 remains. The accurate record of facts in natural history is one 

 and a good aim; the deduction of their true consequences is a 

 better. I proceed, therefore, to reconsider the conclusions from 

 which my experienced French and American fellow-labourers in 

 natural history differ from me. 



The first it may be called the supreme question in regard to 

 the gorilla is, its place in the scale of nature, and its true and 

 precise affinities. 



Is it or not the nearest of kin to human kind ? Does it form, 

 like the chimpanzee and orang, a distinct genus in the anthropoid 

 or knuckle-walking group of apes ? Are these apes, or are the 



