46 APES, MONKEYS, AND LEMURS 



stance that our figures of these animals generally take the form of zinc etchings, the 

 marked contrast between the coloration of the orang {Simia satyrus), and that 

 of its African cousins is unfortunately not presented to our view. 



The name Orang-outang (generally shortened in works on zoology to Orang) is 

 a Malay word, signifying Man-of- the- Woods ; and the ape so designated was known 

 to L,innseus, at least as far back as the year 1766. It was not, however till a con- 

 siderably later date that it became fully known in Europe. It is true, indeed, that 

 in 1780 Baron Wurmb, then the governor of the Dutch settlement of Batavia, 

 transmitted to Holland the entire skeleton of an orang ; but he did not recognize 

 it as such, calling the animal to which it belonged the Pongo a name which, as 

 we have seen, belongs to the gorilla. In 1804 an orang was, however, living in the 

 menagerie that belonged to the Prince of Orange ; and this example was in that 

 year described and depicted by a naturalist named Vosmaer. Subsequently to this 

 the identity -of Wurmb' s pongo with the orang was fully demonstrated ; and from 

 that period our knowledge of the structure and habits of this ape has gradually in- 

 creased. Among those who have especially contributed to advance our knowledge 

 of the orang in its living condition we may mention " Raja " Sir James Brooke, of 

 Borneo, and Mr. A. R. Wallace, the latter of whom has given us such graphic ac- 

 counts of the creature's habits, in his fascinating work, the Malay Archipelago. 



In the uncongenial climate of Europe, orangs are as difficult to keep for any 

 lengthened period in confinement as are the large Man-like Apes of Western Africa. 

 The case is, however, very different in the moist subtropical climate of Calcutta, 

 where adult orangs have thriven well in cages exposed to the open air, and have 

 taught us many facts in relation to their habits. 



The leading or, as zoologists say, generic characters distinguish- 

 ing the orang from the chimpanzee and gorilla are to be found in the 

 proportionately greater length of the arms which in the upright position reach to 

 the ankles in the form of the skull which is elevated almost into a point at the 

 summit as well as in a difference in the number of the joints in the backbone and 

 of bones in the wrist. Thus there are sixteen (instead of seventeen) vertebrae in 

 the backbone between the neck and the sacrum ; twelve of these carrying ribs, as 

 in man. In regard to the number of bones in the wrist, we find that the orang 

 possesses the central bone which is wanting in man, the chimpanzee, and the 

 gorilla ; and thus has nine, in place of eight, bones in the wrist. In this respect 

 the Bornean ape agrees with the lower members of its order ; but in the absence of 

 callosities on the buttocks it shows its kinship with the gorilla and chimpanzee. 



All these characteristic features clearly indicate that the orang is decidedly 

 lower in the scale than the two Man-like Apes of which we have already treated ; 

 but before going further we must examine more closely into its structure and 

 appearance. 



An adult male orang stands about 4 feet 4 inches in height when 



in an upright position, in which posture it can almost touch the 



ground with its fingers. The legs are extremely short and thick, and are twisted 



in such a remarkable manner that the knees are turned outwards, and the feet 



consequently set very obliquely to the line of the leg. From the peculiar structure 



