40 MAMMALIA. QUADRUMANA. 



complete ; bones of the arm and leg distinct, and suscepti- 

 ble of the motions of pronation and supination ; male organs 

 of generation external ; stomach membranous, simple ; intes- 

 tines of medium length ; a little coecum ; orbital and tem- 

 poral fossae distinct. 



This order feeds on fruits, roots, and insects. They are intelligent, agile, lively, 

 and petulant, destined by their organization to live on trees, where they are al- 

 most constantly found. Inhabit the warm parts of Asia, Africa, and America. 



FAMILY I. SIMILE. 



Form approaching more or less to that of Man ; four inclined 

 incisors in each jaw ; nose more or less prominent ; nostrils 

 more or less separated from one another ; two pectoral 

 mammae ; orbital and temporal fossse distinct. 



If the conformation of the body always implied corresponding intellectual attri- 

 butes, the Simla: or apes should approach the nearest to man. But this is not 

 found to be the case ; and though the family of apes have, like man, their anterior 

 hands free, and opposable thumbs, though in a less degree, yet it is not found that 

 their sagacity is superior or equal to some other tribes of mammiferous animals. The 

 structure of their body, indeed, enables them to perform many movements similar to 

 man, but this, when it approaches the usages of the human race, is in general the mere 

 effect of imitation or education in individuals withdrawn from their kind. Posses- 

 sed of hands at both extremities, capable, were they directed by intelligence, of turn- 

 ing the soil or the inhabitants of the forest to their use, they are inferior in sagacity 

 to the beaver and many other animals which live in society. The social instinct of 

 theapes indeed seems limited to the tendency which frugiverous animals have in general 

 to live in wandering troops, for the purposes of mutual protection. 



The whole structure of apes marks them as essentially formed for climbing trees, 

 and it is in forests, accordingly, that they are chiefly found. Their gait on the ground 

 and on all-fours as quadrupeds is awkward and by leaps ; and their head not being 

 placed in equilibrium on the spine as in man, their pelvis being small, and the mus- 

 cles of the thigh being attached lower in the leg, prevents their assuming the erect 

 position. Their very long arms, and hands at both extremities, are, on the contrary, 

 admirably calculated for their mode of life. 



The family of apes are lively, petulant, and extremely lascivious. They possess 

 the talent of imitation to a great degree, and hence the ancient generic denomination 

 of Simice from simulare, to imitate. MM. de la Condamine and Bouguer, when 

 making their observations in South America on the Figure of the Earth, were annoyed 

 by domesticated apes looking through their telescopes, planting signals, running to the 

 pendulum, taking the pen to write, and imitating all the actions of these learned astro- 

 nomers. Their intelligence is not, however, greater than that of the dog, though 

 their imitative actions appear advantageously from their particular conformation. 

 Their senses of touch, of smell, and of taste, are particularly acute, and seem to direct 

 all their appetites, which are sensual and gross in almost all the species. The dis- 

 gusting resemblance to the human countenance which the'ape presents, was remark- 

 ed by Ennius the old Roman poet in the following line : 



" Simia quam sirnilis turpissima bestia nobis." 



Apes bring forth one or two young at a birth, after a gestation of from five to seven 

 months, according to the species. The females carry their young in their arms or 

 upon their backs, offer them suck, amuse them, and sometimes strike or bite them 

 when they are dissatisfied. Among the Sapajous or American apes with prehensile 

 tails, the young seat themselves upon the haunches of the mother, preserving their 

 equilibrium by their tail. The males are polygamous in the smaller species, but 

 often monogamous in the largest Their geographical range is extremely limited, 

 and they are only found under the tropics in both hemispheres. 



3 



