lO SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 85 



The general distribution of longer and shorter hair on the body of 

 gorillas rather closely coincides with the human scheme. By continu- 

 ing the process along the lines marked out in this great ape a stage 

 would eventually be reached in which the body would become bare 

 while the arms and legs retained traces of their original coat. 



(b) The different face pattern of men and women. 



The sexual hair pattern on the human face is another subject of 

 age-long speculation. No one has ever been able to show that its 

 presence has aided man's career as a species. Equally impossible would 

 it be to show that the analogous sexual patterns in other primates have 

 given these species any advantage over their relatives that lack them. 

 But it seems clear that in this respect man has developed in the same 

 general way as the white-cheeked gibbon of Siam, the orangs of 

 Borneo and Sumatra, the black howler monkey of South America, 

 and the macaco lemur of Madagascar, all of which have sexes that 

 differ from each other in appearance. That is to say, man and these 

 other primates have followed a tendency that may crop out anywhere 

 in the group of animals to which they all belong. 



(c) Racial dift'erences in hair pattern and in general color of the 

 hair. 



It is well known that not all races of man are exactly alike in hair 

 pattern. Some have better developed eyebrows, beards, pubic patches, 

 or axillary tufts than others ; some appear to be not as subject as 

 others to grayness and baldness. Racial tendencies toward darker or 

 lighter colored hair are also well known. These racial characteristics 

 have never been satisfactorily explained on the basis of the special 

 needs of different peoples. On the other hand, as examples of the 

 slight differences that are everywhere found among races of primates 

 nearly related to each other they are readily understood. 



The differences between the two races of orang, for instance, are 

 of this nature. The United States National Museum contains 6 males 

 and 6 females of the Sumatran orang, 6 males and lo females of the 

 Bornean race, all adult or nearly adult. These two series show the 

 same kind of differences that are shown by races of men. In the first 

 place, the beards of the males are much better developed than those 

 of the females. Then, when the beards of the Sumatrans are compared 

 with those of the Borneans they are at once seen to be larger, so much 

 so that an adult male from either island can usually be recognized 

 at once by this feature alone. Finally there is a general difference 

 in the color of the hair on body and head, this being more tawny in 

 the Sumatran race, more mahogany brown in the Bornean. 



