SKELETON OF THE OKANG-OUTANGK 



777 



Fig. 395. 



scarcely less formidable than those of the Tiger ; and the massive jaws of 

 this creature are moved by muscles almost equally powerful. It is true 

 that the protuberance of the face is considerably diminished, and the facial 

 angle thus materially enlarged ; but to make up for the feebleness of the 

 upper jaw, consequent upon this reduced size of the bones composing it, 

 additional strength is needed to resist the strong pressure of the enormous 

 temporal muscles. This is given 

 by adding strong buttresses to 

 the outer angle of the orbit, 

 formed by the union of the 

 frontal and the jugal bones, and 

 thus the whole outline of the 

 face becomes more humanized. 



(2234.) Another advance to- 

 wards the condition of the 

 human skull is apparent in the 

 position of the foramen magnum, 

 and of the condyles of the occi- 

 pital bone, which are consider- 

 ably advanced forwards beneath 

 the base of the cranium, thus 

 allowing the head to be articu- 

 lated to the atlas at a very con- 

 siderable angle with a line drawn 

 through the axis of the spine, 

 a condition evidently favourable 

 to the erect posture. 



(2235.) The thorax is well 

 formed and capacious, giving 

 great freedom of respiration : 

 but the spinal column is short 

 and clumsy; neither does it 

 present those graceful sigmoid 

 curves that convert the human 

 spine into a perfect spring, upon 

 the top of which the head is 

 carried. 



(2236.) The arms are of in- 

 ordinate length and extremely 

 powerful, the joints perfect, and the clavicle well formed. But in the 

 construction of the pelvic extremities the differences between this and 

 the human skeleton become strikingly apparent. The pelvis is long, and 

 the ossa ilii narrow ; the thighs and legs so short, that, when the crea- 

 ture stands erect, the tips of the fingers almost touch the ground. The 

 protuberance of the os colds is very slight; and thus the posterior hands, 



Skeleton of Orang-Outang. 



