64 ON THE PLACE OF MAN IN THE SCALE OF BEING. 



the femur is lengthened, so that the two are in the same horizontal plane, in 

 the usual oblique position of the femur. In this manner, the whole weight of 

 the body, in its erect posture, falls vertically on the top of the tibia, when the 

 joint is in the firmest position in which it can be placed : and a comparison of 

 the knee-joint of the Orang with that of Man, will make it at once evident, 

 that the former is not intended to serve as more than a partial support. The 

 weight of the body is transmitted through the tibia, to the upper convex sur- 

 face of the astragalus, and thence to the other bones of the foot. The Human 

 foot is, in proportion to the size of the whole body, larger, broader, and stronger, 

 than that of any other Mammal, save the Kangaroo. The sole of the foot 

 is concave, so that the weight of the body falls on the summit of an arch, of 

 which the os calcis and the metatarsal bones form the two points of support. 

 This arched form of the foot, and the natural contact of the os calcis with the 

 ground, are peculiar to Man alone. All the Apes have the os calcis small, 

 straight, and more or less raised from the ground ; which they touch, when 

 standing erect, with the outer side only of the foot : whilst in animals more 

 remote from Man, the os calcis is brought still more into the line of the tibia ; 

 and the foot being more elongated and narrowed, only the extremities of- the 

 toes come in contact with the ground. Hence Man is the only species of 

 Mammalia, which can stand upon one leg. If we look at the conformation of 

 the upper extremity of Man, we observe similar proofs that it is not intended 

 as an organ of support being destitute of all these adaptations, and having a 

 conformation obviously designed for other purposes, which could not be possi- 

 bly answered, if it were not completely relieved from the necessity of bearing 

 the weight of the body. This peculiar conformation will be subsequently 

 considered. 



66. The other parts of the Human body concerned in locomotion, are ex- 

 actly adapted to the peculiar construction of the skeleton. The tibia is kept 

 erect upon the foot by the very powerful muscles, which are attached to the 

 heel and which form the calf of the leg, a prominence observed in no other 

 animal, in nearly the same degree. The flexor longus pollicis pedis, which 

 is attached in the Chimpanzee and Orang to the three middle toes, proceeds 

 in Man exclusively to the great toe, on which the weight of the body is often 

 supported. The extensors of the leg upon the thigh are much more powerful 

 than the flexors, an arrangement seen in no other animal. The glutsei, by 

 which .the pelvis is kept erect upon the thigh, are of far greater size than is 

 elsewhere seen. The superior power of the muscles tending to draw the head 

 and spine backwards, has been already referred to. In the general form of 

 the trunk, there is a considerable difference between man and most other Mam- 

 malia. His chest is large, but is flattened in front, and expanded laterally, so 

 that its transverse diameter is greater than its antero-posterior ; a peculiarity 

 in which only the most Man-like monkeys partake. His sternum ^s short and 

 broad ; and there is a considerable distance between the lower ribs and the 

 ilia, in consequence of the small number of ribs, and the length of the lumbar 

 portion of the vertebral column. The viscera in this space, which in the hori- 

 zontal position would be but insufficiently held up by the abdominal muscles, 

 are, in the erect attitude, securely supported by the expanded pelvis. From 

 all these facts it is an indisputable conclusion, that the erect attitude and biped 

 progression are natural to man ; and we must regard as in great degree fabu- 

 lous, all those histories of supposed wild men, who, it has been said, were 

 found in woods, dumb, hairy, and crawling on all-fours. The most elaborate 

 investigation* of the structure of the anthropoid Apes, and the fullest acquaint- 



* See especially Mr. Owen's paper on the Chimpanzee and the Orang Outan, in the 

 Zoological Transactions, vol. i. 



