ii APES: HAND AND FOOT. 127 



I have dwelt upon this point at length, because 

 it is one regarding which much delusion prevails; 

 but I might have passed it over without detriment 

 to my argument, which only requires me to show 

 that, be the differences between the hand and foot 

 of Man and those of the Gorilla what they may — 

 the differences between those of the Gorilla, and 

 those of the lower Apes are much greater. 



It is not necessary to descend lower in the scale 

 than the Orang for conclusive evidence on this 

 head. 



The thumb of the Orange differs more from 

 that of the Gorilla than the thumb of the Gorilla 

 differs from that of Man, not only by its shortness, 

 but by the absence of any special long flexor mus- 

 cle. The carpus of the Orang, like that of most 

 lower apes, contains nine bones, while in the Go- 

 rilla, as in Man and the Chimpanzee, there are only 

 eight. 



The Orang's foot (Fig. 20) is still more aber- 

 rant; its very long toes and short tarsus, short 

 great toe, short and raised heel, great obliquity of 

 articulation with the leg, and absence of a long 

 flexor tendon to the great toe, separating it far 

 more widely from the foot of the Gorilla than the 

 latter is separated from that of Man. 



But, in some of the lower apes, the hand and 

 foot diverge still more from those of the Gorilla, 

 than they do in the Orang. The thumb ceases to 

 be opposable in the American monkeys; is reduced 



