THE EQUIVALENTS OF THE HAND, 101 



of the shell of a nut by squeezing it, and Ave see 

 them strike it with a stone, or hammer it on 

 some hard surface, in order to break it ; they 

 ■will also endeavour to pick a lock by means of 

 a bit of stick ; they scratch their fur, and hunt 

 for insects, seizing them with address ; whence 

 we at once infer that their hands enjoy this 

 sense. The skin of the palms, moreover, is 

 naked, and the cushion of cellular tissue there 

 is abundantly supplied with nerves. In some 

 of the lower American monkeys, however, the 

 hands more resemble the paws of a squirrel, 

 and perhaps do not possess a higher degree of 

 the sense of touch, than they. This sense, in 

 an imperfect measiu'e, is enjoyed by most 

 quadrupeds that freely use the fore-paws, as 

 the squirrel and the beaver ; and is seated in 

 those organs. No one can see the dog scratch 

 himself, or the cat dress her fur with her paws, 

 without feeling that this is the case. Yet in 

 the cat tribe, a f^ir higher sense of tovich is 

 placed elsewhere. These animals are nocturnal, 

 prowling by night for prey amidst thickets and 

 dense jimgles. On each side of the upper-lip, 

 which is at that part thickened, are seated long 

 bristles, called lohishers ; they spring from a 

 bed of closely-set glands under the skin, and 



