12 Professor Owen, [Fe.b. 4, 



describes a slight convexity from the nape to th? sacrum, — there being 

 no inbending at the loins, which seem wanting, the thirteenth pair of 

 ribs being close to the " labrum ilii/' The chest is of great capacity ; 

 the shoulders very wide across ; the pectoral regions are slightly 

 marked, and show a pair of nipples placed as in the chimpanzee and 

 human species. The abdomen is somewhat prominent, both before 

 and at tlie sides. The pelvis relatively broader than in other apes. 



The chief deviations from the human structure were seen in the 

 limbs, which are of great power, the upper ones prodigiously strong. 

 The arm from below the short deltoid prominence preserves its thick- 

 ness to the condyles ; a uniform circumference prevails in the fore- 

 arm ; the leg increases in thickness from below the knee to the ankle. 

 There is no calf. These characters of the limbs are due to the general 

 absence of those partial muscular enlargements which impart the 

 graceful varying curves to the outlines of the limbs in man. Yet 

 they depended, the lecturer remarked, rather on excess, than defect, 

 of development of the carneous as compared with the tendinous parts 

 of the limb-muscles, which thus continue of almost the same size from 

 their origin to their insertion, with a proportionate gain of strength to 

 the beast. The difference in the length of the upper limbs between 

 the gorilla and man is but little in comparison with the trunk ; it 

 appears greater through the arrest of development of the lower limbs. 

 Very significant of the closer anthropoid afl^inities of the gorilla was 

 the superior length of the arm (humerus) to the fore-arm, as compared 

 with the proportions of those parts in the chimpanzee. The hair of 

 the arm inclines downward, that of the fore-arm upward, as in the 

 chimpanzee. The thumb extends a little beyond the base of the 

 proximal phalanx of the fore-finger ; it does not reach to the end of 

 the metacarpal bone in the chimpanzee or any other ape : the thumb 

 of the siamang is still shorter in proportion to the length of the fingers 

 of the same hand ; the philosophical zoologist will see great significance 

 in this fact. In man the thumb extends to, or beyond, the middle of 

 tho first phalanx of the fore-finger. 



The fore-arm in the gorilla passes into the hand with very slight 

 evidence, by constriction, of the wrist ; the circumference of which, 

 without the hair, was fourteen inches, that of a strong man averaging 

 eight inches. The hand is remarkable for its breadth and thickness, 

 and for the great length of the palm, occasioned both by the length of 

 the metacarpus and the greater extent of undivided integument between 

 the digits than in man ; these only begin to be free opposite the middle 

 of the proximal or first phalanges in the gorilla. The digits are thus 

 short, and appear as if swollen and gouty ; and are conical in shape 

 after the first joint, by tapering to nails, which, being not larger or 

 longer than those of man, are relatively to the fingers mucli smaller. 

 The circumference of the middle digit at the first joint in the gorilla 

 is 5i inches; in man, at the same part, it averages 2f inches. The 

 skin covering the middle phalanx is thick and callous on the backs of 

 the fingers, and there is little outward appearance of the second joint. 

 The habit of the animal to apply those parts to the ground, in occasional 



