102 MAN AXD THE LOWER AXIMALS. n 



vertebrae of the Gorilla are divided into thirteen 

 dorsal and four lumbar, while in Man they are 

 twelve dorsal and five lumbar. 



Not only, however, does Man occasionally pos- 

 sess thirteen pair of ribs,* but the Gorilla some- 

 times has fourteen pairs, while an Orang-Utan 

 skeleton in the Museum of the Eoyal College of 

 Surgeons has twelve dorsal and five lumbar ver- 

 tebrae, as in Man. Cuvier notes the same number 

 in a Hyldbates. On the other hand, among the 

 lower Apes, many possess twelve dorsal and six or 

 seven lumbar vertebras; the Douroucouli has four- 

 teen dorsal and eight lumbar, and a Lemur 

 (Stenops tardigradus) has fifteen dorsal and nine 

 lumbar vertebras. 



The vertebral column of the Gorilla, as a whole, 

 differs from that of Man in the less marked char- 

 acter of its curves, especially in the slighter con- 

 vexity of the lumbar region. Nevertheless, the 

 curves are present, and are quite obvious in young 

 skeletons of the Gorilla and Chimpanzee which 

 have been prepared without removal of the liga- 

 ments. In young Orangs similarly preserved on 



* " More than once," says Peter Camper, " have I met 

 with more than six lumbar vertebrae in man. . . . Once I 

 found thirteen ribs and four lumbar vertebrae." Fallopius 

 noted thirteen pair of ribs and only four lumbar vertebrae ; 

 and Eustachius once found eleven dorsal vertebrae and 

 six lumbar vertebrae. — (Enures de Pierre Camper, T. 1, 

 p. 42. As Tyson states, his " Pygmie " had thirteen pair 

 of ribs and five lumbar vertebrae. The question of the 

 curves of the spinal column in the Apes requires further 

 investigation. 



