96 



THE POPULAE EDUCATOR 



arms are shorter, more approaching the proportions of the 

 human ; the thumb is more developed, and the throat is not so 

 much disfigured by the singular sac, which swells when the orang 

 utters its loud and fierce cry. 



The chimpanzee is a native of Western Africa, and was long 

 supposed to be the only ape of 

 this continent, the magot or 

 Barbary ape (Simia Innuus), 

 as it is often called, being 

 more allied to the baboons. 

 Two other species, at least 

 the gorilla and kooloo-kamba 

 have, however, recently been 

 discovered in Equatorial Africa, 

 which seems likely to gain the 

 honour of being deemed the 

 special land of the apes. Some 

 years ago, three chimpanzees 

 might have been seen at the 

 same time in the Regent's 

 Park Gardens, and their an- 

 tics were invariably watched 

 fcy a large number of spec- 

 tators. 



THE GORILLA. This re- 

 markable ape of Equatorial 

 Africa has not long been made 

 known to Europeans. It is 

 true that the Carthaginian na- 

 vigator, Hanno, was supposed 

 to have taken the skins of three 

 to Carthage ; but these animals are now thought to have been 

 chimpanzees, though called gorillas by the Greeks, who trans- 

 lated the account of Hanno's wonderful voyage. To M. Paul du 

 Chaillu belongs the honour of describing the gorilla in its forest 

 home, and the "Memoir" of Prof essor Owen gives a full account 

 of the animal's structure. 

 Many vain attempts have been 

 made to keep living specimens 

 of these apes in England ; 

 Jiowever, a good notion of their 

 forms and enormous strength 

 may be gained from the ad- 

 mirably set-up individual 

 Tdlled at the Gaboon river, and 

 now at South Kensington. 



The first opportunity for ex- 

 amining' any part of a gorilla 

 was given in the year 1847, 

 \vhen a cranium was brought 

 to England, and shortly after- 

 wards two other skulls were 

 added. But in 1858 the body 

 of a gorilla, preserved in a 

 cask of spirits, arrived at the 

 British Museum, and was 

 treated with all the anatomical 

 honours due to such a visitor. 

 The skin, bones, brain, nerves, 

 and muscles were carefully 

 examined by Professor Owen, 

 and photographs of the animal, 

 in various positions, were 

 taken. All these representa- 

 tions may be studied in the 

 " Memoir on the Gorilla." 

 This ape bears a bad name 

 abroad, and is thoroughly 

 dreaded by the negroes, and 



especially by the women, who firmly believe that these animals 

 delight to carry them off to their forest haunts. The hideous 

 roar uttered by the gorilla when he advances to the attack, the 

 ferocious courage of the creature, and the death-stroke which 

 tears open the body of the assailant, have made this quadruman 

 the terror of the forests. Superstition aids this feeling, as the 

 natives think the spirits of certain deceased men enter into some 

 gorillas, and endow them with human cunning and energies. 



HEAD OP YOUNG CHIMPANZEE. 



HAND OP CHIMPANZEE. 



plicable to the apes in general. All the species of this family 

 have opposalle thumbs on the four hands, and can therefore use 

 both thumbs and fingers in grasping. Man has this structure 

 in the hands only, the great toe being wholly useless for such a 

 purpose. The case is reversed in many of the American 



monkeys, which have the op- 

 posable thumb on the hind- 

 limbs only, and are therefore 

 sometimes called pedimana 

 (hand-like feet). A glance at 

 the hand of the chimpanzee 

 or the gorilla will show the 

 vast superiority of the human 

 thumb and hand over that 

 possessed by any ape. 



While the feet or hinder 

 limbs of these quadrumana are 

 fitted for grasping, their struc- 

 ture renders it impossible to 

 plant the sole of the foot 

 firmly on the ground. The 

 outer edge only rests on the 

 earth, and hence the rolling 

 motion of these animals when 

 moving on the ground. The 

 mode in which the foot is 

 joined to the ankle inevitably 

 forces the sole to take an 

 oblique and inward direction, 

 admirably qualifying the ape 

 to climb, but not to walk. 



The comparative length of the arms in man and the various 

 species of apes deserves attention. The human hand reaches to 

 the middle of the thigh ; that of the gorilla to the knee. The 

 chimpanzee's fingers extend a little lower; those of the orang 

 touch the ankle, and in some of the gibbons extend to the 



ground. The following com- 

 parison between the capacity 

 of the human and ape skulls 

 yields some instructive re- 

 sults. The average capacity 

 of an English skull is 96 cubic 

 inches ; of a Hottentot's, 75 ; 

 the gorilla's, 34 ; the chim- 

 panzee's, 27 ; and that of the 

 orang, 26 inches. 



How many changes does the 

 reader suppose would be ne- 

 cessary to make the body of a 

 gorilla like that of a man ? 

 Twenty-four alterations of 

 structure at least would be re- 

 quired to effect this transmu- 

 tation in the physical organi- 

 sation only. Thus it will be 

 seen that numerous differences 

 separate even the bodies of 

 the apes from those of men. 

 We shall not here attempt to 

 explore the width and depth 

 of the gulf which separates the 

 intelligence of these creatures 

 from ours. Some have ven- 

 tured to inquire why those 

 animals do not speak, as thoir 

 organs of speech resemble 

 man's ? These inquirers for- 

 got that organs of speech must 

 act according to the power of 

 the mind which employs them ; hence while man uses a glottis 

 and vocal chords to form a language, the apes can but employ 

 the same organs to produce a bark or a yell. 



Many other topics are suggested respecting a family of ani- 

 mals so mysteriously resembling, and yet so widely differing 

 from man ; but we must refrain from entering upon these ques- 



FOOT OP CHIMPANZEE. 



tions. The preceding observations may incite some readers to 



e search more minutely into the numerous and important diffe- 



We will now conclude this paper with a few remarks ap- rences between the lowest man and the highest quadrumana. 



