300 



Zoological Society, 



are subordinate or consequent. The laniary teeth, it may be ob- 

 served, have little relation to the kind of food habitual to the Orangs; 

 had they been so related they would have been accompanied with a 

 structure of the glenoid cavity fitting them, as in the true Carnivora, to 

 retain a living prey in their gripe, till its life was exthiguished or resist- 

 ance effectually quelled. But the flattened surfaces on which the con- 

 dyles of the lower jaw rotate are in subserviency to the flattened tu- 

 berculate molars, showing the mastication of vegetable substances to 

 be the habitual business of the jaws, and the application of the lani- 

 aries to be occasional, and probably defensive in most cases. We 

 perceive the utility of formidable canine teeth to the Orangs, whose 

 stature makes them conspicuous and of easy detection to a carnivo- 

 rous enemy; such weapons, in connexion with the general muscular 

 strength of the Pongos, enable them to ofl*er a successful defence 

 against the Leopard, and may render them formidable opponents even 

 to the Tiger; but in the smaller species, which we have been describing, 

 to which concealment would be easier, the canines are of relatively 

 smaller size, and those of the lower jaw are so placed as to be worn 

 down by the lateral incisors of the upper jaw ; they were reduced in 

 the specimen described, to the level of the other teeth ; and the points 

 of the upper canines were also much worn. The size, forms, and 

 proportions of the teeth which relate more immediately to the food 

 of the Orangs, viz. the molars and incisors, show indisputably that 

 the Simia Morio derives its sustenance from the same kind of food as 

 the larger Orangs. The singular thickness or antero-posterior dia- 

 meter of the incisors, which are worn down to a flattened surface, 

 like molar teeth, show that they are put to rough work ; and it is 

 probable that their common use is to tear and scrape away the tough 

 fibrous outer covering of the cocoa-nut, and, perhaps, to gnaw through 

 the denser shell. 



With respect to minor differences not noticed in the description, 

 these may be deduced from the subjoined table of comparative ad- 

 measurements. 



Table of Admeasurements. 



Length of the skull from the vertex to the base 



of the occipital condyle 



Length of the skull from the posterior plane of 



the occiput to the margin of the incisors .... 

 Length of the skull from the posterior plane of "1 



the occiput to the fronto-nasal suture J 



Length of the skull from the fronto-nasal suture 1 



to the margin of the incisors / 



Greatest lateral diameter of the skull (at the post- 1 



auditory ridges) / 



Smallest lateral diameter of the skull (behind the 1 



orbits) J 



