298 



Moonda on the nortli and Gaboon on the south ; not one T. niger 

 came (as far as I could ascertain) from the left bank of the 

 Gaboon, i. e. from the locality whence are obtained the gorillas 

 and the nschiego." * * * p. 94, " The Mpongwes, or the 

 natives of Gaboon, call the gorilla N'gena (and not Enge-ena), 

 while they give the name of N'tchego (and not Enge-eko) to an 

 ape smaller than that whose adult skeleton I sent to the Museum ; 

 I do not know what name they give to the chimpanzee ; suppos- 

 ing (which is little probable) that they call also the chimpanzee 

 N'tchego, w'ould this show that they confound under this name 

 two species ? I think not. I believe there are on the coast of 

 Africa three distinct species of anthropoid apes : 1. the chim- 

 panzee {T. niger, G. St. Hilaire), with a naked, flesh-colored 

 face, ears large and red, the hair black and thin, &c. &c.," — 2. the 

 gorilla, which he describes, — " and 3. the N'tchego," which he 

 aoes on to describe as follows : " It has a black face and small 

 ears like the gorilla, and the hair is shorter and darker colored ; 

 it never attains the size of the gorilla, and never has the reddish 

 streak which has been mentioned ; the antero-superior crest of 

 the adult cranium is barely, if at all, visible. The muzzle is less 

 prominent than in the gorilla, giving to the face a more human 

 expression than in any other ape. I do not remember all the 

 minor differences of anatomical detail, but only the striking char- 

 acters which could not escape the least attentive observer. The 

 N'tchego is no more the gorilla, than is the latter the chimpan- 

 zee ; on this I insist, as I believe I am the first to advance the 

 opinion that there are three anthropoid apes on the Africaa 

 coast." 



After a careful examination of this letter, I am forced to the 

 conclusion that the N'tchego of Dr. Franquet is nothing but the 

 adult chimpanzee {T. niger). The chimpanzee is found north 

 and south of the equator, and consequently north and south of 

 Gaboon, and near Loango becomes very abundant ; it may be 

 said to occupy almost the whole range of the western coast of 

 Africa, between the tropics. 



Dr. Franquet speaks of the chimpanzee {T. niger of Geoffrey 

 St. Hilaire) as having the face flesh-colored. This color belongs 

 incontestably to the young chimpanzee, for the old ones, and 

 even those that are not quite full grown, have a black face ; this, 



