DISTRIBUTION OF MONKEYS AND LEMURS 221 



referred to three genera: (1) Anthropopithecus, which em- 

 braces the Black Apes of tropical Africa, (2) Simia, which 

 contains the Brown Apes of tropical Asia, and (3) 

 Hylobates, which contains the Gibbons, likewise restricted 

 to tropical Asia. 



It has been a subject of much discussion among 

 zoologists as to which of these three forms of Simiine life 

 comes nearest to man in structure. Some have advo- 

 cated the claims of the Orang to this distinction, but it is 

 now generally held that his black cousins of the Ethiopian 

 Region ought to be placed at the head of the series. It 

 has likewise been maintained by some authorities that in 

 certain respects the Gibbons (Hylobates) come nearer to 

 man than either of the above-mentioned forms, but this 

 opinion has not met with general support. We will 

 therefore commence our survey of the distribution of the 

 Anthropoid Apes with their African representatives, the 

 Chimpanzee and the Gorilla. 



The Chimpanzee (Anthropopithecus troglodytes) is 

 certainly widely spread over tropical Africa, but we have 

 not as yet acquired sufficient details as to the exact limits 

 of its distribution. Nor are naturalists at all agreed as 

 to whether one or more species are comprehended under 

 the name of Chimpanzee, though it is generally allowed 

 that the Bald-headed Chimpanzee (A. calvus), a well-known 

 specimen of which lived in the Zoological Society's Gardens 

 for many years, must be considered distinct from the 

 ordinary A. troglodytes. But in examining the distribu- 

 tion of the Chimpanzee it is hardly necessary to seek to 

 determine this vexed question more nearly. 



Commencing on the western coast of Africa, the range 

 of the Chimpanzee appears to begin with the wooded 



