102 MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMALS u 



the same as in Man ; but the development of a 

 pair of ribs to the first lumbar vertebra, which is 

 an exceptional occurrence in Man, is the rule in 

 the Gorilla ; and hence, as lumbar are distin- 

 guished from dorsal vertebrae only by the presence 

 or absence of free ribs, the seventeen "dorso- 

 lumbar " vertebrae of the Gorilla are divided into 

 thirteen dorsal and four lumbar, while in Man 

 they are twelve dorsal and five lumbar. 



Not only, however, does Man occasionally 

 possess thirteen pair of ribs, 1 but the Gorilla 

 sometimes has fourteen pairs, while an Orang- 

 Utan skeleton in the Museum of the Royal 

 College of Surgeons has twelve dorsal and five 

 lumbar vertebrae, as in Man. Cuvier notes the 

 same number in a Hylobates. On the other hand, 

 among the lower Apes, many possess twelve 

 dorsal and six or seven lumbar vertebrae; the 

 Douroucouli has fourteen dorsal and eight lum- 

 bar, and a Lemur (Stenops tardigradus) has fifteen 

 dorsal and nine lumbar vertebrae. 



The vertebral column of the Gorilla, as a whole, 

 differs from that of Man in the less marked char- 



1 "More than once," says Peter Camper, "have I met with 

 more than six lumbar vertebrae in man. . . . Once I found 

 thirteen ribs and four lumbar vertebras." Fallopius noted thir- 

 teen pair of ribs and only four lumbar vertebrae ; and Eustachius 

 once found eleven dorsal vertebras and six lumbar vertebras. 

 (Euvres de Pierre Camper, T. 1, p. 42. As Tyson states, his 

 " Pygmie " had thirteen pair of ribs and five lumbar vertebra. 

 The question of the curves of the spinal column in the A pea 

 requires further investigation. 



