164 



APE. 



the equator, a zone of perennial fertility, In which th 

 chimpansee can find food all the year round ; am 

 that there must be is corroborated by other circum 

 stances. The river Congo discharges a very greai 

 volume of water ; it never falls very low, and it never 

 rises above nine feet, so that it must flow, in great par 

 at least, through a country where the rains are com- 

 paratively frequent and moderate a country desira- 

 ble to inhabit and profitable to cultivate ; and one, by 

 means of the waters of which a communication may 

 at some period of time be established between the 

 sides of Africa. Thus, imperfect as it is, there is 

 some utility in the general natural history of apes. 



It is tolerably wejl ascertained that the apes are 

 all inhabitants of the forest, that they climb trees with 

 great dexterity, and live upon fruits ; and, that they 

 may examine all above and around them for these, 

 is probably the original use of that habit of appa- 

 rent observation of all that is going on which they 

 have in a state of confinement. They are not under- 

 stood to sleep clinging, but to make a sort of rude 

 nests for themselves iu the forks of trees, where they 

 sleep during the night, and recline during the heat of 

 the day, the morning and evening being, as with most 

 animals of warm climates, their chief feeding times. 



No very satisfactory conclusions with regard to 

 their manners in a state of nature can be drawn 

 from the few specimens which have been brought to 

 Europe. These have generally been taken young, 

 trained differently from what they are in a state of 

 nature, and rendered dull and sickly by climatal and 

 other causes. The inference from the character of all 

 the rest of the order is, that they are mischievous, 

 and their strong hands and formidable canine teeth 

 certainly render them capable of much mischief. The 

 data are too scanty for any positive general conclu- 

 sion ; but it seems certain that they cannot be 

 trained for any useful purpose ; and that, much as 

 their resemblance to man is dwelt upon, they are far 

 behind many other animals in that which is called 

 animal sagacity. We shall now very briefly advert 

 to the species. 



1. CHIMPANSEE (Pithecus troglodytes). Baron 

 Cuvier gives the preference to the orang-utan ; 

 and, in point of climbing, certainly in point of size, 

 and, for any thing that we know to the contrary, in 

 point of sagacity, it may deserve the preference ; but 

 the matter is one of mere opinion. The chimpansee 

 is, as has been said, found both in the Asiatic isles 

 and in Africa ; and it is said to be of larger size 

 and more handsome form in the latter country than 

 in the former that it has the arms shorter, walks 

 more erect, and has the neck longer. These differ- 

 ences tend to show that the trees which have apes' 

 food are of smaller growth and further apart from 

 each other than in Asia ; and that, also, in part 

 explains why none of the long-armed climbing apes 

 are found in Africa, but have their place supplied by 

 the baboons, which run well upon all fours, and are 

 more ferocious in their dispositions. The very few 

 specimens of tlie chimpansee which have been seen 

 in this country have been all of small stature ; but 

 they have been young, and we neither know the 

 period which these animals require to attain their 

 full stature, nor the circumstances by which their 

 growth may be retarded or stopped. Travellers say 

 that they attain the height of an ordinary man ; but 

 there is reason to suspect that in that, as well as in 

 some other points, their history has been confounded 



with that of the larger baboons. It is said that they 

 live in small bands, and construct a series of huts for 

 their common residence. The former is likely, as 

 all apes are, to a certain degree, social ; but the con- 

 struction of the huls is doubtful, as it has not been 

 borne out by what has been observed of other apes, 

 or even of the same species in the East. Nor do the 

 tales of their running away with negro girls, for the 

 purpose of stocking their seraglios, appear to be bet- 

 ter founded ; and they are certainly against the 

 general analogy of animated nature. The fact is, 

 that the comparisons which have constantly been 

 made between these animals and man, render it no 

 easy matter to determine what portion of the reports 

 which are given of them should be received and 

 what rejected : and the chimpansee is n.ot so very 

 like man after all. The flat top of the head, the great 

 round ears, and the short and scanty hair on the head, 

 have nothing very human in their aspect. There is 

 a ridge over the eyes, but it is not like an eye brow ; 

 and the* eyes have nothing human in their enfonce- 

 ment or their expression. The nose is merely a ridge 

 on the muzzle ; and the mouth, from the manner of 

 its opening, as well as the extent to which it opens, 

 is evidently intended for no purpose save that of 

 biting. The lower jaw is not a chin either, in 

 its anterior part, but merely a deep jaw, to afford 

 insertion to the large teeth and the powerful 

 muscles. 



That the females have pectoral mammae is no 

 proof of approximation to man, because almost all 

 animals which carry their young with them when 

 they ascend trees have the same invariably if they 

 carry the young in the arms. 



It does not appear that the differences which have 

 been mentioned as existing between the chimpansees 

 of Africa and of the Oriental isles are sufficient to 

 constitute a difference or even a variety ; the more 

 so that we are but little acquainted with the appear- 

 ance and habits of the adult animals in either region. 

 All that can be inferred is, that they have to climb 

 more and walk less, and their arms are lengthened , 

 and their legs shortened and weakened in proportion. 

 Even those chimpansees which are the best walkers, 

 do not walk as man does, by advancing the leg while 

 the body remains square tu the front ; they roll the 

 pelvis, and the feet, instead of moving over straight 

 lines, move over arches of circles, of each of which the 

 opposite hip joint is the centre ; and even in them 

 the feet are far more efficient in climbing and grasp- 

 ing than in walking, which shows that climbing is the 

 grand motion for which they are organised ; and 

 that just as much of the power of walking is added, 

 as enables them to be the passing feeders upon fruits 

 in those parts of the forests where the fruit-bearing 

 trees are too small and far asunder for suiting the 

 organisation of the long-armed apes. 



The face and ears of the chimpansee are of a 

 irown colour, and naked ; but the skin of the face, 

 especially, is withered and leather-like, and has no 

 resemblance to the human skin in texture and gloss ; 

 it more resembles the naked parts of some reptiles, 

 or those of the bats. The head, back of the neck, 

 shoulders, and back, are covered with coarse black 

 lair, rather long, and forming a sort of whiskers or 

 tufts on the cheeks, but otherwise longest on the 

 upper parts of the back. The arms have the hair 

 nclining downwards from the shoulder to the elbow, 

 and upwards from the wrist to the same, and these 



