ORDER QUADRUMANA, 153 



years since, probably at the same time with the creation of a 

 large number of other animals ; and that no very great change 

 has since been made in its surface. 2. That, notwithstanding 

 the diversities among the races now existing, they may have all 

 originated, and probably did originate, from one common stock. 



ORDER II. QUADRUMANA. 



143. The characters upon which this order is founded have 

 been already explained ( 120) ; and the points in which it 

 chiefly differs from the preceding, have been adverted to under 

 the last head. It remains to notice some other general charac- 

 ters, however ; and to point out how these become modified in 

 the different subdivisions of the order. In the first place, as 

 already remarked, the Quadrumana are not the only animals 

 possessing opposable thumbs on the feet as well as the hands 

 ( J26) ; nor do we find this character to be universally presented 

 by them. In one large division of the order, indeed, we find 

 that the thumbs are possessed by only one pair of the members ; 

 but this is the hinder pair, which is thus converted into hands ; 

 whilst the front pair of extremities, not being possessed of 

 thumbs, lose the distinctive character of hands. It would be a 

 more correct designation of the whole group, therefore, to term 

 it Pedimana, or foot-handed^ implying that the posterior ex- 

 tremity is converted into a hand, which is a constant character of 

 the order, rather than Quadrumana, or four-handed, which does 

 not correctly apply to a large portion of it. We must connect 

 with this description, in order to distinguish these animals from 

 other four-handed Mammals, the characters derived from their 

 teeth ; for in them alone do we find all the three kinds present. 

 Yet even this is not an invariable character; for there are 

 certain aberrant forms, which have a dentition that leads us 

 towards the Rodentia, and in which only two kinds of teeth are 

 present. But these so closely resemble the Quadrumana in 

 their general characters, that there can be little doubt of their 

 real affinity to them. 



