APE 



form a sort of ruff at the point of meeting. This posi- 

 tion of the hair enables the fore-arm to be more 

 readily thrust among the leaves, to pull the fruit. 

 When there are hairs on the human fore-arm, they 

 are not turned toward the elbow, but outwards, and 

 inclining to the wrist. So that, down to the very 

 minutest particular, we find in the ape adaptations to 

 peculiar localities and habits, tiot one of which can 

 be traced in man. 



Even the trivial name of this species (troglodytes) 

 is in some sort connected with gratuitous analo- 

 gies, and as such calculated to mislead. In ancient 

 times there was a race of people known by the name 

 of troglodytes, or " dwellers in caves," said to inhabit 

 somewhere in the vicinity of the Red Sea, and to be 

 of small stature and deformed outline j and so strong 

 was the prejudice, arising probably from this simi- 

 larity of name, that Linnaeus himself made man one 

 species of the germs homo, and the chhnpansee, 

 which, of course, was not so well known to Eu- 

 ropeans MI his time as it is now, another, under the 

 name of homo troglodytes. Now it does not appear 

 that the chiuipansee is troglodytes at all, inasmuch as 

 it does not dwell in caves. It does not inhabit those 

 regions in which the troglodytes of the ancients are 

 said to have resided, and it is rather improbable that 

 the ancients had any accurate knowledge of the 

 places in which it is now found. 



ORANG-UTAN (Pithecus satyrlx). This animal, 

 though more of a climber and woodsman, and more 

 adroit among the branches than the chimpansee, has 

 been much better known and understood. It is the 

 one which the late Baron Cuvier preferred for taking 

 the lead as next to man ; and the chief difference is, 

 that it is a much worse walker and more efficient 

 climber than the chimpansee. It is found only in the 

 deep and dense forests of the Eastern isles, and pro- 

 bably in that part of the Malay peninsula which has 

 been described as having the same climate and the 

 same natural character. It will be seen from the 

 plate, to which we again refer as a faithful and cha- 

 racteristic likeness, that there is not a great deal of 

 human character in this animal. The forehead is rlat, 

 the eye little enfonced, the muzzle much produced, 

 the gape wide, the canine teeth (in the old animal) 

 very large, the under-jaw without any form of a chin, 

 the ears short, and with few convolutions in the 

 concha, the neck very short, thick, and rendered 

 apparently thicker by a pouch of skin on each side, 

 which the animal distends when it screams or yells, 

 or whatever else the noise it utters may be called. 

 The anterior extremities are very long, so much so 

 that when the animal stands or walks on the hind 

 ones (such 'standing or walking as it can accomplish 

 upon them), the points of the fingers touch the 

 {.round, and a very little bending enables it to walk 

 upon all fours. The posterior extremities are just 

 as disproportionally short, and they are so ill-adapted 

 for walking that it is compelled to walk on their 

 outer edges as the sloth does, because the sole can- 

 not be so turned as to be planted on the ground ; the 

 leg and thigh bones are both very short ; but with the 

 cxeepiion of the incapacity for turning the sole of the 

 foot to the ground, I he motions of all the .joints of 

 the leg are remarkably true, and the muscles by 

 which the bones are moved are very powerful. 

 The ankle joints move like a wrist joint, and the foot 

 is much more like a hand than in the chimpansee. 

 They are still however hands, of which the chief 



power of grasping Is in the fingers, for the thumbs 

 are very short, and in some individuals they are 

 without nails. The body is not so compact as that 

 of the chimpansee, and the abdomen is larger in 

 proportion. The face, ears, and hands are naked, 

 not so dark, and more inclining to a dull red than in 

 the chimpansee. The hair, too, which is long and 

 coarse on the head, neck, and back, is of a deep 

 purplish red, and so is that on the fore part of the 

 body, which is but thinly covered. 



In his native forests, and under what may be 

 perhaps considered as the most genial tlimate in the 

 world to all vegetables that are grown and all 

 animals that are produced under it, the orang-utan 

 becomes a very large and formidable animal. His 

 height is not less than seven feet ; his muscular 

 strength great in proportion j and his bite, from the 

 strength of his teeth and the depth of his gape, is 

 very formidable. He leaps from the ground to the 

 branches, and so from branch to branch, with great 

 agility ; and by the power which he has of grasping 

 by the feet, swinging and balancing the body, and ex- 

 tending his long arms, he gets on from tree to tree 

 with great ease and quickness. If, indeed, he ever 

 gains the forest, and he is never found at any great 

 distance from it, it is impossible to catch, and <Jif- 

 ficult to shoot him ; and when wounded and irritated 

 he makes a desperate resistance. It does not appear, 

 however, that he is, in any case, the first to attack, 

 neither does he stand on the defensive, till flight is 

 no longer availing. He remains in his forest, and 

 gathers his wild fruits in peace with all the less 

 powerful inhabitants. 



From the specimens recently brought to Europe 

 no correct idea can be formed of the stature, the 

 strength, or the energy of this animal in his native 

 East. Nature has fitted him only for finding his food 

 in the forests there, and also suited his constitution 

 to that climate only. The young ones which are 

 brought to Europe linger a while in a sickly state ; 

 but their powers are never developed, and they 

 soon perish of disease. 



It does not appear that this species, or indeed 

 any of the true apes except the chimpansee, is found 

 any where but in the south-east of Asia, which would 

 lead to the supposition that the African forests are 

 not so shadowy or so abundant in fruits as those of 

 the Oriental islands. In those islands, the general 

 habit of the orang-utan appears to be to conceal 

 himself in the depths of the woods ; but the following 

 account by Dr. Abel shows that, while at home, or 

 even while in health, these animals are social, and 

 even playful. On his return from the East, Dr. 

 Abel brought with him one which he had kept for 

 some time in the island of Java ; and the account 

 cannot be better given than in his own words : 

 " While in Java," says Dr. A., " he lodged in a large 

 tamarind-tree near my dwelling, and formed a bed 

 by intertwining the small branches and covering 

 them with leaves. During the day, he would lie 

 with his head projecting beyond his nest, watching 

 whoever might pass under ; and when he saw any 

 one with fruit, would descend to obtain a share of it. 

 He always retired for the night at sunset, or sooner 

 if he had been well fed, and rose with the sun, and 

 visited those from whom he habitually received food. 

 On board ship he generally slept at the mast-head, 

 after wrapping himself up in a sail. Sometimes I 

 pre-occupied his bed, and teased him by refusing to 



