1855.] Anthropoid Apes, and their relations to Man. 29 



modified, as it must be, concomitantly for the attachment of mus- 

 cles to work the jaw so armed, that all these changes must result in 

 the acquisition of characters such as are presented by the skulls 

 of the large pongo, or Bornean baboon-like ape. The specific 

 identity of the pongo, with certain of the young orang-outangs, 

 was thus satisfactorily made out, and is now admitted by all 

 naturalists. With regard to the chimpanzee, the germs of similarly 

 proportioned large teeth were also discovered in the jaws, likewise 

 indicating that it must be the young of a much larger species of ape. 



The principal osteological characters of the chimpanzee and 

 orang, commencing from the vertebral column, were as follows : — 

 The vertebral column describes only one curve, inclining forwards, 

 where it supports the head with its large jaws and teeth. The 

 vertebrae in the neck, seven in number as usual in the mammalia, 

 are chiefly remarkable for the great length of the simple spinous 

 processes developed more than in most of the inferior apes, in 

 relation to the necessities of the muscular masses that are to sus- 

 tain and balance the head that preponderates so much forward on 

 the neck. The vertebrae maintain a much closer correspondence 

 in size, from the cervical to the dorsal and lumbar region, than in 

 the human skeleton. With regard to the dorsal vertebrae, or those 

 to which moveable ribs are articulated, there are twelve pairs in the 

 orang ; seven of them send cartilages to join the sternum, which is 

 more like the sternum in man than in any of the inferior quadru- 

 mana : it is shorter and broader. In the smaller long-armed apes 

 {Hylobates), which make the first step in the transition from the 

 ordinary quadrumana to the man-like apes, the sternum is remark- 

 ably broad and short. The lumbar vertebrae are five in number in 

 this adult orang. The sacrum is broader than in the lower quad- 

 rumana, but it is still narrow in comparison with its proportions in 

 man. The pelvis is longer. The iliac bones are more expanded 

 than in the lower quadrumana, but are more expanded on the same 

 plane, and are flattened and long. The tuberosities of the ischia 

 are remarkably developed, and project outwards. All these con- 

 ditions of the vertebral column indicate an animal capable only of a 

 semi-erect position, and present a modification of the trunk much 

 better adapted for a creature destined for a life in trees, than one 

 that is to walk habitually erect upon the surface of the ground. 

 But that adaptation of the skeleton is still more strikingly shown in 

 the unusual development of the upper prehensile extremities. The 

 scapula is broad, with a well-developed spine and acromion ; there 

 is a complete clavicle ; the bone of the arm {humerus) is of remark- 

 able length, in proportion to the trunk ; the radius and the ulna 

 are also very long, and unusually diverging, to give increased sur- 

 face of attachment to muscles ; the hand is remarkable for the 

 length of the metacarpus, and of the phalanges, which are slightly 

 bent towards the palm ; the thumb is less developed than the cor- 

 responding digit in the foot ; the whole hand is admirably adapted 



