1626 THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSE 



rain, and during bad weather hastens to take refuge 

 in his dwelling. If the wind blows in the direction 

 of the openings, the little beast at once closes them 

 with two stoppers of moss, and keeps well shut in as 

 long as the storm rages. 



The great Anthropoid apes have found nothing 

 better for shelter than the squirrels' method. It 

 must, however, be taken into account that they have 

 much more difficulty in arranging and maintaining 

 much heavier rooms, and in building up a shelter 

 with larger surface. 



The orang-outang, which lives in the virgin forests 

 of the Sunda Archipelago, does not feel the need of 

 constructing a roof against the rain. He is content 

 with a floor established in the midst of a tree, and 

 made of broken and interlaced branches. He piles 

 up on this support a considerable mass of leaves and 

 moss; for the orang does not sleep seated like the 

 other great apes, but lies down in the manner of man, 

 as has often been observed when he is in captivity. 

 When he feels the cold he is ingenious enough to 

 cover himself with the leaves of his couch. 



In Upper and Lower Guinea the chimpanzee 

 (Troglodytes niger) also establishes his dwelling on 

 trees. He first makes choice of a large horizontal 

 branch, which constitutes a sufficient floor for the 

 agile animal. Above this branch he bends the neigh- 

 boring boughs, crosses them, and interlaces them so 

 as to obtain a sort of framework. When this prelimi- 

 nary labor is accomplished, he collects dead wood or 

 breaks up branches and adds them to the first. Be- 

 fore commencing he had taken care when choosing 



