n CLASSIFICATION: GORILLA 97 



me to leave us no choice but to adopt the last- 

 ineDtioned course. 



It is quite certain that the Ape which most 

 nearly approaches man, in the totality of its 

 organisation, is either the Chimpanzee or the 

 Gorilla; and as it makes no practical difference, 

 for the purposes of my present argument, which is 

 selected for comparison, on the one hand, with Man, 

 and on the other hand, with the rest of the 

 Primates, 1 1 shall select the latter (so far as its 

 organisation is known) as a brute now so 

 celebrated in prose and verse, that all must have 

 heard of him, and have formed some conception 

 of his appearance. I shall take up as many of the 

 most important points of difference between man 

 and this remarkable creature, as the space at my 

 disposal will allow me to discuss, and the necessi- 

 ties of the argument demand ; and I shall inquire 

 into the value and magnitude of these differences, 

 when placed side by side with those which 

 separate the Gorilla from other animals of the 

 same order. 



In the general proportions of the body and 

 limbs there is a remarkable difference between 

 fche Gorilla and Man, which at once strikes the 



1 We are not at present thoroughly acquainted with the 

 brain of the Gorilla, and tli ore fore, in discussing cerebral" 

 characters, I shall take that of the Chimpanzee as my highest 

 term among the Apes. 



171 



