86 ARBOREAL MAN 



situated. A long snout with a mouth opening far in 

 advance of the eyes is a necessity in any animal which 

 uses its mouth alone, in all the processes of obtaining 

 food. The grazing herbivores must carry their food- 

 getting mouth far in advance of their eyes. The long 

 face of the horse may serve as a familiar example. The 

 animals which catch insects must have a similar structure, 

 and the " snouty " insectivorous Shrews are typical of 

 such animals. The more the fore-limbs serve to obtain 

 or to hold the food, the less is this snout developed, and 

 I am terming the change which hand -feeding produces 

 iJie recession of the snout region. In herbivorous animals 

 the transition is very easily seen; the long-faced horse 

 may be contrasted (solely from the point of view of this 

 function) with the short-faced squirrel which holds food 

 betw^een its fore-paws. In carnivorous animals and mixed 

 feeders another factor comes in, for the mouth may be 

 used, not only for grasping, but for killing the food, or 

 the fore-limb may take over this function in part. 



The long-faced dog grasps and kills its food with its 

 mouth, the shorter-faced cat holds its food with its fore- 

 paws and kills either with its paws or with its mouth; 

 but the tiger, in which the snout region has shortened 

 very considerably, kills as a rule with its fore-limb, and 

 holds the kill with its paws. I have noticed, in this 

 respect, some interesting phases among the Primate stock. 

 I had at the same time, living as nearly as possible in 

 their natural state, some Lemurs {Nycticebus tardigradus) 

 and some Monkeys. Both of these animals, although 

 mixed feeders, are in a state of nature very fond of animal 

 food, the Lemur delighting in insects, especially grass- 

 hoppers, and young birds, the monkey always ready to 

 kill and eat anything, from a cockroach to a chicken. 



The Lemur would catch a grasshopper with its 

 hand (or its foot), and would catch a bird put into its 

 cage in exactly the same way, but after a preliminary 

 squeezing would almost invariably put it to its mouth to 



