or XJngJca Ape of Sumatra, 



133 



and soles of the feet are bare and black ; the legs are short in 

 proportion to the arms and body ; the feet are long, prehen- 

 sile, and, when the animal is in a sitting posture [Jig, 42.), are 

 turned inwards, and the toes are bent. The first and second toes 

 are united (except at the last joint) by a membrane, from which 

 circumstance he has derived his specific name. He invariably 

 walks in the erect posture when on a level surface ; and then 

 the arms either hang down, enabling him sometimes to assist 

 himself with his knuckles ; or, what is more usual, he keeps his 



arms uplifted in an 

 erect position, with 

 the hands pendent 

 (Jig, 43.)j I'eady to 

 seize a rope and 

 climb up on the 

 approach of any dan- 

 ger, or on the ob- 

 trusion of strangers. 

 He walks rather 

 quick in the erect 

 posture, but with a 

 waddling gait, and 

 is soon run down 

 if whilst pursued 

 he has no opportu- 

 nity of escaping by 

 climbing. On the 

 foot are five toes, 

 the great toe being 

 placed like the thumb 

 of the hand; the form 

 of the foot is some- 

 what similar to that 

 of the hand, having 

 an equal prehensile 

 power ; the great toe 

 has a capability of 

 much extension out- 

 wards, which enlarges 

 the surface of the foot 

 when the animal 

 walks ; the toes are short, the great toe is the longest. The 

 eyes of the animal are close together, with the irides of a hazel 

 colour : the upper eyelids have lashes, the lower have none : 

 the nose is confluent with the face, except at the nostrils, 

 which are a little elevated ; nostrils on each side, and the nose 



K 3 



