MAN AND APES. 131 



the higher apes as regards the skeleton. 

 They show that the various species approxi- 

 mate to man, not only in different degrees, 

 but also in different modes. The Orang, cer- 

 tainly, diverges more, as regards the skeleton, 

 from man, than does any other latisternal 

 ape. 



Thus it has the shortest leg, compared with 

 the arm, of all Primates (hand and foot not 

 being counted), while man has the longest. 

 It has the absolutely longest hand and the 

 shortest thumb, as compared with the fore- 

 finger ; and it has the shortest thigh-bone, 

 compared with the upper arm-bone, of all 

 Primates. The pit for the ligamentum teres* 

 is almost constantly absent, while in man, 

 Gibbons, and the Chimpanzee it is as con- 

 stantly present. The Gorilla alone sometimes 

 shares with the Orang the condition of having 

 no such pit. 



* This is a ligament which holds the thigh-bone in its 

 place, passing as it does, like a round cord, from the head 

 of the thigh-bone to the inside of the socket of the 

 haunch-bone (acetabulum^), into which the thigh-bone fits. 



K 2 



