BIMANA. 27 



most quadrupeds, but allow of the full and free circulation which 

 its energies require. 



The fine sweep of cranium and the smooth spherical surface 

 of the human skull, showing the volume of the interior brain, are 

 also noticeable, as contrasting strikingly with the heavy ridges, 

 the irregular prominences and the small capacity of the Mon- 

 key's skull. The face of the Monkey is an aid to him in pro- 

 curing food, and a weapon for attack and defence ; Man's face 

 bespeaks the workings of the inner MIND. He uses his hands 

 to procure his food, and naturally unarmed, protects himself 

 with weapons which he has manufactured. His jaws and teeth 

 are both as small as could consist with the preservation of life. 

 Though at first weak and defenceless, he becomes able not only 

 to assert his dominion over animated nature, but to make the 

 very elements subserve his designs. No monkey or ape has 

 ever been able to make weapons of either attack or defence ; 

 nor can he procure fire or renew it, which the lowest of the hu- 

 man species readily does. The most benighted Hottentot can 

 form weapons with which he is able to destroy the ferocious 

 lion, the swift antelope, and the wary ostrich ; " he constructs for 

 himself a hut by the side of his prey, strikes fire, fetches fuel, 

 and dresses his meat." There seems, as BufFon has intimated, 

 no anatomical reason why an ape should not speak ; but it has 

 no language, and cannot by the most patient labor, be taught to 

 speak. Articulate language, of itself, tnakes a difference, vast 

 in extent, between man and every other tribe of the Mammalia. 



His physical system is peculiar in the readiness with which 

 it accommodates itself to the variations of climate, and in modes 

 of living. The Arctic explorations of Captains Ross and Parry, 

 of Sir John Franklin, and of our own lamented Dr. Kane, have 

 signally evinced the capacity of the human constitution for en- 

 during with safety, the intensest cold. On the other hand, men 

 long accustomed to the air of the temperate zones, have pene- 

 trated far into the interior of Africa, and traversed other equato- 

 rial regions, without experiencing any serious evils from the heat. 



QUESTIONS ON THE ORDER BIMANA. 



What is the first order ? How is it spelled, defined, and from what 

 derived ? Who is at the head, or fills the first place in the animal series ? 

 What is said of him, and to what class, order, genus, and species does he be- 

 long ? Are all Zoologists agreed as to the propriety of placing man with ani- 

 mals ? What places him immeasurably above them all ? What are his most 

 prominent distinctions, or what is said of his speech, walk, chin, teeth, &c. ? 

 Contrast these with those of the inferior animals. What is said of man, 

 physically ? In what respect does he surpass all other created beings ? 



