568 



BIMANES. 



upon the earth, using their long arms to rait-e themselves up, and 

 swing themselves forward, very much as a man would use a pair of 

 crutches. When young they show a great deal of intelligence, 

 attach themselves to those who have the cai-e of them, and learn to 

 imitate many of our actions. 



The Chimpanzee ( Troglodytes niger) is another of these approxima- 

 tions to tlie human form. In height it equals or even surpasses that 

 of man. Its body is covered with black or dark-brown hair, scantily 

 distributed in front. It is a native of Guinea and Congo, in Africa, 

 and constructs a dwelling of leaves and foliage. It occasionally arms 

 itself with sticks and stone*, with which it drives away elephants. 



Fig. 488.— chimpaxzke. 



and combats the attacks of its enemies. When domesticated it 

 becomes sufficiently docile to sit at a table, and take its food, as 

 tliougli in ridiculous burlesque of human manners. 



Order — Man (Bimanes). 



Foremost of the mammiferous division of tlie 

 animal creation stands Man, constituting an order 

 apart in the class to which he is zoologically related. 



The highest of the qnadramana, as we have 

 already seen, are constructed to reside amid the 

 trees of the forests, but are ill adapted for treading 

 on the ground, or for sustaining themselves in an 

 upright position. The foot of Man, on the contrary, 

 (a very different instrument from the hinder hand of 

 the most man-like ape) is as admirably contrived for 

 maintaining him in an erect posture as the pre- 

 hensile limbs of the monkey are for its life among 



