CHARACTERISTICS OF MAN. 73 



neither seize very minute objects with such precision, nor support large ones 

 with such firmness, as are essential to the dexterous performance of a variety 

 of operations for which the hand of Man is admirably adapted. Hence 

 the possession of " four hands" is not, as might be supposed, a character 

 which raises the animals that exhibit it above two-handed Man ; for none of 

 these four hands are adapted to the same variety of actions of prehension of 

 which his are capable ; and all of them are in some degree required for sup- 

 port. In this respect their character approaches much nearer to that of the 

 extremities of the lower Mammalia ; and there are several among them in 

 which, the opposable power of the thumb being deficient, there is no very 

 marked distinction between the so-called hand, and the foot of some Carni- 

 vora. There is much truth, then, in Sir C. Bell's remark, that " We ought 

 to define the hand as belonging exclusively to Man." There is in him, what 

 we observe in none of the Mammalia that approach him in other respects, 

 a complete distinction in the functional character of the anterior and posterior 

 extremities ; the former being adapted for prehension alone, and the latter for 

 support alone. Thus each function is performed with a much higher degree 

 of perfection than it can be where two such opposite purposes have to be 

 united. The arm of the Ape has as wide a range of motion as in Man, so 

 far as its articulations are concerned ; but it is only when the animal is in the 

 erect attitude, that its arm can have free play. Thus the structure of the 

 whole frame must conform to that of the hand, and must act with reference 

 to it. But it cannot be said with truth (as some have maintained) that Man 

 owes his superiority to his hand alone ; for without the directing mind, the 

 hand would be comparatively valueless. His elevated position is due to his 

 mind and its instruments conjointly; for if destitute of either, mankind would 

 be speedily extinguished altogether, or reduced to a very subordinate grade of 

 existence. 



58. Thus, then, although the order Bimana cannot be separated from the 

 order Quadrumana by any single obvious structural distinction, like that which 

 characterises the Cetacea or the Cheiroptera, it is really as far removed by 

 the minuter, but not less important, modifications which have been detailed. 

 A few other distinctive characters will now be noticed. With one exception 

 (the fossil genus Anoplotherium, which is allied to the Tapir tribe), Man is 

 distinguished from all other animals, by the equality in the length of all his 

 teeth, and by the equally close approximation of them all in each jaw. Even 

 the anthropoid Apes have the canine teeth longer than the others, and an in- 

 terval in the line of teeth in each side of the jaw, to receive the canine teeth 

 of the opposite jaw. This is more evident in the adult than in the young 

 animal. The vertical position of the Human teeth, on which one of the most 

 characteristic features of the Human face the prominent chin depends, is 

 also quite peculiar; and is intimately connected both with his erect attitude, 

 and with the perfection of the hands, by which the food is divided and con- 

 veyed to the mouth. He has no occasion for that protrusion of the muzzle 

 and lips, which, in animals that seize their food with the mouth only, is re- 

 quired to prevent the face from coming into general contact with it. The 

 absence of any weapons of offence, and of direct means of defence, are 

 remarkable characteristics of Man, and distinguish him from other animals. 

 On those to whom Nature has deaied weapons of attack, she has bestowed 

 the means either of passive defence, of concealment, or of flight. Yet Man, 

 by his superior reason, has not only been enabled to resist the attacks of other 

 animals, but even to bring them under subjection to himself. His intellect 

 can scarcely suggest the mechanism, which his hands cannot frame ; and he 

 has devised and constructed arms more powerful than those which any other 

 creature wields, and defences so secure as to defy the assaults of all but his 

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