ANTHROPOID APES. 



17 



most like man in their childhood and youth and develop 

 their beast characters as age advances. They have lost 

 their adaptability, and being unfit to survive any consid- 

 erable change in climate or mode of life, seem to be des- 

 tined by nature to die out. 



Gorilla and chimpanzee are closely related to each 

 other while the orang-utan forms a group by himself. 

 The latter is very delicate in his health and so almost 



ORANG-UTAN. 

 (Brehm's Thierleben, I, 83.) 



every district harbors a special species. He is found only 

 in Borneo and some of the adjacent islands. We might 

 call him a pessimist, for he has a melancholy temper and 

 is generally in a contemplative mood. He prefers solitude 

 to company and shows a disinclination to leave the wooded 

 swamps of his native district. In captivity he is most 

 human in his affections. It is a common experience with 

 keepers, that the orang-utan if threatened by an admon- 



