Prof. Owen on ths Gorilla. 383 



tendinous parts of the muscles as they pass from the leg to the foot 

 over this region. The mid-toe (third) is a Uttle longer than the 

 second and fourth ; the fifth, as in man, is proportionally shorter 

 than the fourth, and is divided from it by a somewhat deeper cleft. 

 The whole sole is wider than in man — relatively to its length much 

 wider, — and in that respect, as well as by the offset of the hallux, 

 and the definition of its basal ball, more like a hand, but a hand of 

 huge dimensions and of portentous power of grasp. 



In regard to the outward coloration of the Gorilla, only from the 

 examination of the living animal could the precise shades of colour 

 of the naked parts of the skin be truly described. Much of the 

 epiderm had peeled off the subject of the present description ; but 

 fortunately in large patches, and the texture of these had acquired a 

 certain firmness, apparently by the action of the alcohol upon the 

 albuminous basis. The able taxidermist, Mr. Bartlett, has availed 

 himself of this circumstance in the correct and satisfactory prepara- 

 tion of the specimen now mounted for the British Museum. The 

 parts of the epiderm remaining upon the face indicated the skin 

 there to be chiefly of a deep leaden hue ; it is everywhere finely 

 ■wrinkled, and was somewhat less dark at the prominent parts of the 

 supraciliary roll and the prominent margins of the nasal " alse :" the 

 soles and palms were also of a lighter colour. 



Although the general colour of the hair appears, at first sight, 

 and when moist, to be almost black, it is not so, but is rather of a 

 dusky grey : it is decidedly of a less deep tint than in the Chimpanzee 

 (Tragi, niger) : this is due to an admixture of a few reddish, and of 

 more greyish hairs, with the dusky-coloured ones which chiefly con- 

 stitute the " 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 proportion as to affect the impres- 

 sion of the general dark colour, at first view. The hairs are wavy, 

 approaching to a woolly character. Near the margin of the vent 

 are a few short whitish hairs, as in the Chimpanzee. The epiderm 

 of the back showed 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 epiderm 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, v/ould 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 differ- 

 ence 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. 



