486 The Outline of Science 



climber as the Gibbon. It makes a temporary platform or 

 resting-place among the branches. In disposition, it is lively and 

 playful; it is easily tamed, and has a plastic intelligence. The 

 Gorilla, also restricted to Tropical Africa, may be a little over five 

 feet in height, and is of enormous strength in shoulders and arms. 

 It goes much more on the ground than any of the other anthro- 

 poids, and has a shuffling, rolling gait, using the hands a good deal, 

 and keeping the body semi-erect. It fights ferociously with hands 

 and teeth, and does not retreat from man. It is said to be gloomy ; 

 it beats on its breast when enraged ; it has never been tamed. A 

 single adult male usually leads a small company of females and 

 young ones. 



Care of the Young 



Some young mammals are born very helpless blind, naked, 

 and with little power of movement. This implies some sort of se- 

 clusion or shelter, such as a burrow or a nest, as in Fox and 

 Squirrel respectively. In the case of the Rabbit there are both, 

 for the mother makes a bed of her own fur. During the very help- 

 less infancy, the mother mammal is assiduous beyond telling. In 

 some cases, after a period of suckling, the mother brings animal 

 food to her young ones, and that food is not always dead. For the 

 education has to begin early. The play of the kitten (and even 

 of the cat) with the mouse is doubtless wrapped up with the 

 business of early education. 



In some cases the young ones are carried about by the mother. 

 Reference has already been made to the marsupials, but there are 

 other instances. A mother hippopotamus is sometimes seen in 

 the Nile with a calf astride on her short neck: the young are 

 precocious, and the mothers very affectionate. Many monkeys 

 carry their babies about with them among the branches, and so 

 does the quaint Tarsius, which belongs to the order of Lemurs. 

 Among bats the young one is carried by the mother as she flies, 

 and the holding on is assisted by the front teeth which grip the 



