HAND AND FOOT 



587 



be insisted upon too strongly, as in some American Monkeys the 

 face is as little projecting. Still we are now comparing Man with 

 his undoubtedly nearest relatives the Simiidae. In the lower jaw 

 the anterior line at the symphysis is an approximately straight 

 one, that is at right angles to the long axis of the jaw, while Apes 

 have a more retreating chin. The " beautiful sigmoid curve 

 formed by the lumbar and dorsal vertebrae " is more pronounced 



Man 



Otang 



FIG. 282. Foot of Man, Gorilla, and Orang of the same absolute length, to show the 

 difference in proportions. The line '' indicates the boundary between the tarsus 

 and metatarsus ; b'b', that between the latter and the proximal phalanges : and c'c' 

 bounds the ends of the distal phalanges, as, Astragalus ; ca, calcaneum ; sc, 

 scaphoid. (After Huxley.) 



in Man, but exists not only in the Anthropoids, but in other 

 Apes. 1 



The fore-limbs are relatively short, the extreme length of the 

 arm being such that the outstretched hand does not reach the 

 knee. The thumb is a large and useful digit in Man, much more 

 so than in the Anthropoids. On the other hand the hallux is not 

 opposable. This is, of course, correlated with the upright attitude, 

 as is also the greater relative thickness of that digit, upon which 



1 Cunningham, "Cunningham Memoirs," No. II. Royal Irish Acad. 1886. 



