ANTHROPOIDEA. 19 



instances there is a defect in the nail of the divergent 

 toe, as in the opossum, hut the aherrant digit is 

 moved hy muscles that belong to a leg and a foot. 



What a monkey gains hy having hand-like feet 

 is lost to it when upon the ground. If an ape were 

 compelled to live where no trees exist, its lack of good 

 feet would be seriously felt. The grasping feet of an 

 ape do not contribute a particle toward elevating the 

 creature to the status of man; but they actually hin- 

 der that physical uprightness which is characteristic 

 of the human race. 



When we examine the anterior or pectoral ex- 

 tremities of the Simian family, we do not meet with 

 so high an order of manus as is credited by the popu- 

 lar mind. Many species of monkeys and apes possess 

 a thumb and four fingers on each anterior extremity, 

 yet none of the race can boast of a thumb which is 

 opposable to the ends of each of the adjacent lingers 

 the thumb is too short and the fingers are too long for 

 such a maneuver. In fact, no monkey nor ape pos- 

 sesses a perfect thumb. The dressed up Sapajou can 

 not button its clothing nor tie its cravat. Its thumb 

 is ridiculously below the "second hand" of Sir Charles 

 Bell. 



It is a notable fact that monkeys with extended 

 caudal appendages are apt to lose the pollex alto- 

 gether. The cebidce, or American monkeys, are, with 

 one exception, long tailed, and all are thumbless or 

 have stunted thumbs, except the short tailed variety 

 alone. The Ateles or Spider-monkey, is remarkable 

 for the prehensile character of its tail, the underside 

 of- the extremity being hairless to enhance the tactile 

 sense; and its anterior extremities are destitute of 

 thumbs. It seems as if a law of compensation oper- 



