PECULIARITIES OF STRUCTURE OF MAN. 143 



hang in the Chimpanzee on a level with the knees, and in the 

 Orang they descend to the ankles ; hence, when the bodies of 

 the latter are thrown but a little forwards, their anterior extre- 

 mities are ready to support them in this inclined position. Now 

 it is evident that progression on all-fours would be rendered 

 excessively inconvenient, in consequence of this disproportion. 

 Either Man would be obliged to rest on his knees, with his 

 thighs bent towards the trunk, and his legs and feet entirely 

 useless ; or he must elevate his trunk on the extremities of his 

 toes, throwing his head downwards, and making the pelvis much 

 higher than the shoulders. In either case, the only useful move- 

 ment would be at the hip ; and the knee and ankle joints would 

 be of little or no use to him. Many other facts might be brought 

 together, in addition to these, in support of the conclusion 

 (which scarcely admits of being reasonably disputed), that the 

 erect attitude, and biped progression, are natural to Man; and 

 we must regard as in great degree fabulous all those histories 

 of supposed wild men, who, it has been said, were found ir 

 woods, dumb, hairy, and crawling upon all-fours. The most 

 elaborate investigation of the structure of the highest Apes, and 

 the fullest acquaintance with their habits, concur in proving, 

 that their movements are not easy or agile, unless they employ 

 all their limbs for the support of their bodies. 



133. Thus, then, although the order Bimana cannot be 

 separated from the Q.uadrumana, by any single obvious point of 

 structure, like that which characterises the Cetacea, Cheiroptera, 

 Rodentia, or Ruminantia, it is really as far removed by the 

 minuter, but not less important, modifications which have been 

 detailed. A few others will now be noticed. With one excep- 

 tion (the fossil genus Anoplotherium, which is allied to the 

 Tapir tribe) Man is distinguished from all other animals, by the 

 equality in the length of all his teeth, and by their being closely 

 ranged together in both jaws. Even the Apes have the canine 

 teeth (especially in adult age) longer than the others ; and an 

 interval in the line of teeth in each side of the jaw, to receive 

 the canines of the opposite jaw. The vertical position of the 

 Human teeth, on which one of the most characteristic features 



