MAN AND APES. 117 



the short-tailed Indris the proportion is pre- 

 cisely the same as in ourselves. 



The very same remarks may be applied to 

 the index finger also. 



The proportion borne by the thumb to the 

 longest finger of the hand in the Gorilla is 

 slightly more human than what we find in 

 any other latisternal apes. Nevertheless the 

 difference between these apes is trifling, and 

 all differ greatly from man in this proportion ; 

 while in the slender Lemur, and in the 

 Marmoset, the proportion is nearly as it is in 

 us, although in the Marmoset the thumb is 

 not, as in us, opposable. 



The pelvis, consisting of the two haunch- 

 bones and sacrum, is one of the most cha- 

 racteristic parts of the human skeleton, closely 

 connected as is its shape with the upright 

 posture of man's body. 



In the breadth of the pelvis (Fig. 42), com- 

 pared with the extreme length of each haunch- 

 bone, man greatly exceeds every other Primate ; 

 he is most nearly approached, however, in this 



