ANATOMICAL STRUCTURE OF ANTHROPOID APES. 143 



obliquely directed towards the inner or tibial side 

 of the foot. Thus, tlie great toe is separated from 

 the others, and so placed, that when it is bent, it 

 is directed downwards towards the sole, and is op- 

 posed to the other toes, much more opposed to them 

 than is the case with the thumb of the human hand.* 

 Owen also speaks of the characteristic transformation 

 of the great toe of an ape's foot into a thumb, opj)osed 

 to the other toes, and adapted for grasping, f 



K. E. von Bar does not agree with Huxley in 

 considering that there is less difference between 

 man and the gorilla than that which exists be- 

 tween different species of apes. " There are," Von 

 Bar remarks, " differences of various kinds among 

 apes. In some the thumb is only a stump ; in 

 others, as in the orang-utan, the fingers of the 

 hinder extremities are so long and curved that they 

 cannot be extended on flat gr«und ; in many of the 

 smaller apes this member is still more like a band 

 than in the larger species, and the fingers can be 

 easily spread out on the ground. In this case the 

 foot is of a much blunter form, and is more flexible, 

 so that the sole, which is properly turned inward, 

 can lie flat on the ground. The heavier the bo ly of 

 the animal, the more sharply cut the structure of the 

 foot must be, so that it does not admit of the free 

 movements which are possible in the hand. But 

 all these are only modifications of a climbing foot, 



* An Introduction to the Osteology of the Mammalia, p. 310 : 

 London, 1870. 



t On the Anatomy of the Vertebrates, ii. 551. Also see mj 

 own works in Archiv. fur Anatomie, p. 648 : 1876. 



