306 



GORILLA 



GORRES 



were from time to time brought from Western 

 Africa; but it was not till 1847 that the gorilla 

 became really known to naturalists, when a skull 

 was sent to Professor Wyman of Boston by Dr 

 Wilson, an American missionary on. the Gaboon 

 River. Since that time not only have skeletons 

 and skins been obtained in sufficient number for 

 scientific examination, but information has also 

 been procured concerning the habits of the animal 

 in his native haunts. The accounts of the gorilla 

 given in Du Chaillu's Explorations and Adventures 

 in Equatorial Africa (Lond. 1861 ) soon came to be 

 regarded by the highest scientific authorities, and 

 particularly by Owen, as in the main trustworthy, 

 notwithstanding all the doubt that was cast over 

 that traveller's narrative of his adventures ; and 

 they are in accordance with all that has been learnt 

 from other sources, and with the inferences to be 

 deduced from the dentition and osteology of the 

 animal. 



The gorilla differs from the chimpanzee in its 

 greater size ; the height of an adult male in an 

 erect posture being commonly about 5 feet 6 

 inches or 5 feet 8 inches, although there is reason 

 to think that it .sometimes exceeds 6 feet. The 

 general aspect of the creature may be gathered from 

 the accompanying figure. The skin is very black ; 



Gorilla (Troglodytes Gorilla), 



the hairy covering of the back is thicker than on 

 the belly ; its colour varies in individuals and on 

 different parts of the body from reddish-brown to 

 black. 



The skeleton is very powerful and massive, and 

 differs from the human skeleton in the following 

 (among other) points. The skull is extremely 

 prognathous, the supra-orbital ridges are enor- 

 mously developed ; there is a great crest between 

 the frontals and parietal bones which joins the 

 occiput crest. The canine teeth are very large, 

 particularly in the male. The cervical vertebrae 

 have very long spinous processes. The ribs in- 

 crease progressively in their span, the chest cavity 

 being thus more or less conical in form. The arm 

 bones are much longer than in man, while the leg 

 bones are shorter. 



The muscular anatomy shows also certain marked 

 differences from man, as does also the brain. The 

 gorilla cannot be regarded as nearer to man than 

 the chimpanzee and orang. There are a number of 

 varieties of the gorilla, but apparently only one 



Hand (a) and foot (b) of Gorilla. 



species, which is confined to the forests of West 

 Africa between 2 N. and 5 S. lat., and 6 and 16 

 E. long. It is principally a vegetable feeder, 

 though like most 

 apes it also preys 

 upon small mam- 

 mals, birds, and 

 their eggs. 



The gorilla 

 wanders about in 

 families, consist- 

 ing of one male 

 and female and 

 their young ; most 

 of the time is 

 spent upon the 

 ground, though 

 the animal is a 

 skilful climber. 

 It is not so fero- 

 cious a creature 



as has been supposed, and when molested gener- 

 ally avoids an encounter ; but if driven into 

 a corner it will defend itself, and its enormous 

 strength renders it a dangerous enemy. On such 

 occasions it will advance to the attack, beating its 

 breast with its fists and giving forth a furious roar. 

 The gorilla has not been hitherto tamed, and, in an 

 adult state at least, seems very incapable of it. In 

 1876 a live gorilla was brought to Berlin, the first 

 authentic instance of the introduction of the animal 

 into Europe ; and in 1887 a young gorilla was ex- 

 hibited at the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's 

 Park. The name given to this animal in its native 

 country is N'gma, or Ingeena. On the Angola 

 coast it is called N'punga. For the skeleton, see 

 ANTHROPOID APES, and the books there cited. 



CJorklllll (Dutch Gorinehem), a fortified town 

 of South Holland, on the Merwede, 22 miles ESE. 

 of Rotterdam, possesses an arsenal, some manu- 

 factures, and a miscellaneous trade. Pop. 12,300. 



Gorlitz, a town of Prussian Silesia, is situated 

 on a declivity on the left bank of the Neisse, 49 

 miles W. of Liegnitz. One of its old mural towers, 

 the Kaisertrutz, is now the guard-house and 

 armoury. Among the beautiful Gothic churches 

 the most interesting is that of St Peter and St 

 Paul, built 1423-97, with five naves. Outside the 

 town is the Kreuzkapelle, an imitation of the Holy 

 Sepulchre at Jerusalem, built 1481-89. A railway 

 viaduct, upwards of 2720 feet in length and 118 

 feet high, here crosses the valley of the Neisse. 

 Gorlitz has manufactures of cloth, which is its 

 staple, cotton, linen, and fictile wares, with iron- 

 foundries and machine-shops. Here Jacob Boehme 

 spent most of his life and died. Pop. ( 1885) 55,470 ; 

 (1890) 62,135, mostly Protestants. Gorlitz was 

 taken and held alternately by the Swedes and the 

 Imperialists during the Thirty Years' War. 



GOrres, JAKOB JOSEPH VON, a distinguished 

 German author, was born at Coblenz, 25th January 

 1776. In common with most of the ardent youth 

 of the time, Gorres threw himself eagerly into the 

 movement of the French Revolution ; and a journal 

 established by him, Das Rothe Blatt, advanced 

 the most extreme opinions of the time. In 1799 he 

 went to Paris as the chief of a deputation to nego- 

 tiate the annexation of the Rhine-land to the 

 French Republic, but in Paris became convinced of 

 Napoleon's despotism. On his return to Germany 

 he settled down as a lecturer on physics in his 

 native town, and devoted himself exclusively to 

 literature for several years. In 1807 he published 

 the first part of his well-known collection of 

 German Volksbiicher ; and in 1810 his work on 

 Asiatic mythology. From these studies, how- 

 ever, he was aroused to the hope of liberation 



