THE CHIMPANSEE. 21 
the body, and permits the skin to be seen between the hairs, but on the arms and 
other parts it is sufficiently thick and long to hide the skin altogether. There is 
a small beard on the chin and face, which has a Chinese kind of aspect about it. 
With very few exceptions, the nostrils of the Quadrumana are placed almost 
flat upon the face, and are devoid of that projecting character which gives such 
expression to the human countenance. Even in that very large-nosed animal, the 
Proboscis Monkey, the nostrils are only oval orifices for the conveyance of air, and 
seem as devoid of character as those of a wax doll, 
Just as man is the only being that possesses two hands and feet, so is he the only 
inhabitant of earth who can lay claim to a nose. All the Mammalia have nostrils, 
and some species are endowed with wonderful powers of scent, such as the dogs, 
the deer, and others. Some of them carry a proboscis more or less elongated, such 
as the elephants and the tapirs. Then there are some, such as those of the porcine 
group, which possess snouts ; but not one of them has a nose. 
So in the Chimpansee and its relatives, the muzzle projects exceedingly, and the nostrils 
le almost flatly upon the projecting mass. Herein lies one of the chief characteristics of 
the simian countenance, which is not so conspicuous when the face is viewed directly 
from the front, as when it is turned with the profile towards the observer. In front, the 
flattened and divergent nostrils, together with the projecting muzzle, are not forced on the 
notice, and might escape a hasty observation ; but if the animal turns its head, then the 
simian character shows itself in all its repulsive brutality. 
Even in the young Chimpansee, this preponderance of the face and jaws over the brain- 
skull is very considerable, and, as we have already seen, continues to increase as the 
animal draws nearer to maturity. The accompanying sketch exhibits 
the general characteristics of the Chimpansee skull, and shows how 
radically it differs from that of the human being. The distinction is 
even more clearly shown if the lower jaw be removed, and the skull 
examined from below ; for then, the disproportion between the animal 
and reflective parts shows itself most forcibly. 
In its native country, the Chimpansee lives in a partly social state, 
and at night the united cries of the community fill the air with their reiterated yells. If 
we may credit the reports given by the natives of Western Africa, the Chimpansees weave 
huts for themselves, and take up their residence in these dwellings. Now it is a well- 
known fact that the orang-outan, which comes next in our list, can rapidly frame a kind 
of platform of interwoven branches, and so it is not beyond the bounds of credibility that 
the Chimpansee may perform a work of similar character. Only, the chief difference 
between the customs of the two animals seems to be, that the one lives upon the structure 
or roof, if it may so be called, and the other beneath it. Some travellers say, that although 
the huts are actually inhabited, yet that only the females and young are permitted to take 
possession of the interior, and that the male takes up his position on the roof. 
The latter supposition derives more force from those habits of the Chimpansees with 
which we are acquainted, and which have induced naturalists to give to the entire genus, 
the name of troglodytes. This term is compounded from two Greek words, signifying a 
“diver into caverns,” and was applied to this ape, because it seems to prefer rocky and 
broken ground to the forest branches, which form the refuge of nearly all quadrumanous 
animals. 
This compound word is not of modern invention; for in the works of Aristotle, Pliny, 
and other writers on the subject of natural history, much mention is made of a race of 
men who lived in rocky caverns, and who earned, by their burrowing habits, the title 
above mentioned. The language and costume of these people were as barbarous as their 
habitations, for the former characteristic was said to resemble the hissing of serpents, 
rather than to bear any likeness to articulate speech, and in the latter accomplishment 
they were totally deficient in the hotter months. It is possible that the Bushman tribes 
may have given rise to these descriptions, which, indeed, would not be very erroneous if 
they had been used in depicting the “Digger” Indians of the New World. 
Be this as it may, it is a remarkable fact that the Chimpansees are groundlings, and 
SKULL OF CHIMPANSEE. 
