34 QUADRUMANA. 



treat it kindly ; a grave and melancholy expression is usually seen on 

 its face. 



Numerous living specimens have been brought to Europe. One at 

 Paris is described by Cuvier, who gives an anecdote of its intelligence. 

 " It was once shut up in a place in the vicinity of a saloon where it was 

 usual for persons to assemble. After a time solitude made it impatient, 

 and it endeavored to open the door in order to get in. But the bolt 

 was high and beyond its reach. Ultimately it dragged a chair to the 

 door, climbed up on it, and having drawn back the catch, triumphantly 

 entered." 



Another was brought to England by Dr. Abel Clarke; it was as 

 docile as affectionate. It took a fancy for two kittens and patiently 

 endured their scratches rather than lose their company. It was, how- 

 ever, observed trying to pull out their claws with its fingers. He adds : 

 " Since its arrival in Great Britain, it acquired, to my knowledge, two 

 habits which it certainly never practised on board ship, where its educa- 

 tion, I ought to say, had been very much neglected. One of these was 

 walking erect, or at least on its hind feet, without resting on its hands ; 

 the second was to kiss its keeper. Some writers assert that the Orang- 

 outan gives real kisses, and they suppose that this is a natural act of the 

 animal. I believe that they are wrong : it is acquired from imitation, 

 and even then it does not altogether give a kiss like Man, by advancing 

 the lips." 



The Orang-outan is the very opposite in disposition to the Chim- 

 panzee. While the latter is lively and playful, the former is quiet, solemn, 

 and grave, his motions are slow and measured, and the expression of his 

 brown eyes inconceivably sad. 



We have mentioned above that this animal possesses a throat-pouch. 

 This strange appendage is not a mere hollow sack, but is shaped like a 

 badly-made glove ; it is larger in the male than the female. A careful 

 investigator, Mr. Vrolik, is of opinion that this throat-pouch has nothing 

 to do with the voice, but is " intended to assist it in climbing and leaping." 

 It is a pity that he did not show how it accomplishes this object. The 

 sac is connected by a passage with the windpipe, and can be inflated at 

 pleasure. 



There seems to be in Borneo another species of Simia called by the 

 natives Meias Kassar. It is much smaller than the Orang-outan, or 

 Meias Pappan, and has often been regarded as the young of the latter. 



