260 ON THE RELATIONS OF MAN 



of the Royal College of Surgeons has twelve dorsal and 

 five lumbar vertebrae, as in Man. Cuvier notes the same 

 number in a Hylobates. On the other hand, among the 

 lower Apes, many possess twelve dorsal and six or seven 

 lumbar vertebrae ; the Douroucouli has fourteen dorsal 

 and eight lumbar, and a Lemur (Stenops tardigradus) 

 has fifteen dorsal and nine lumbar vertebrae. 



The vertebral column of the Gorilla, as a whole, differs 

 from that of Man in the less marked character of its curves, 

 especially in the slighter convexity of the lumbar region. 

 Nevertheless, the curves are present, and are quite obvious 

 in young skeletons of the Gorilla and Chimpanzee which 

 have been prepared without removal of the ligaments. In 

 young Orangs similarly preserved, on the other hand, 

 the spinal column is either straight, or even concave 

 forwards, throughout the lumbar region. 



Whether we take these characters then, or such minor 

 ones as those which are derivable from the proportional 

 length of the spines of the cervical vertebrae, and the like, 

 there is no doubt whatsoever as to the marked difference 

 between Man and the Gorilla ; but there is as little, that 

 equally marked differences, of the very same order, obtain 

 between the Gorilla and the lower apes. 



The Pelvis, or bony girdle of the hips, of Man is a strikingly 

 human part of his organization ; the expanded haunch 

 bones affording support for his viscera during his habitually 

 erect posture, and giving space for the attachment of the 

 great muscles which enable him to assume and to preserve 

 that attitude. In these respects the pelvis of the Gorilla 

 differs very considerably from his (Fig. 15). But go no 

 lower than the Gibbon, and see how vastly more he differs 

 from the Gorilla than the latter does from Man, even in 

 this structure. Look at the flat, narrow haunch bones 

 the long and narrow passage the coarse, outwardly 

 curved, ischiatic prominences on which the Gibbon habit- 

 ually rests, and which are coated by the so-called " callo- 

 sities," dense patches of skin, wholly absent in the Gorilla, 

 in the Chimpanzee, and in the Orang, as in Man ! 



ribs and four lumbar vertebra*." Fallopius noted thirteen pair of 

 ribs and only four lumbar vertebrse ; and Euslachius once found 

 eleven dorsal vertebrae and six lumbar vertebrae. GEuvres de 

 Pierre Camper, T. 1, p. 42. As Tyson states, his ' Pygmie ' had 

 thirteen pair of ribs and five lumbar vertebras. The question 

 of the curves of the spinal column in the Apes requires further 

 investigation. 



