CHAPTER III 



Order I. Primates (continued] 



Sub-Order 2. QUADRUMANA, OR THE 

 MONKEY TRIBE 



IT is not always an easy matter to allocate an animal 

 to its exact place in the classification of the Mammalia, 

 but there can be no c ifficulty in distinguishing any member 

 of the monkey tribt . If an examination of the great toe 

 of the hind foot sh >w that it is opposite to the other toes, 

 thus converting it into a hand, it is proof positive that the 

 animal is a monkey of some kind. With the exception of 

 a few species the fore limbs also possess an opposable 

 thumb. It is thi peculiarity that earns for the animals the 

 scientific name QUADRUMANA, i.e. t four-handed. 



Because the monkey of all living creatures is the most 

 like man it is placed in the front rank of the animal creation. 

 A glance at Coloured Plate I. shows that the resemblance is 

 more apparent than real ; the highest of the monkey tribe 

 are but the most grotesque caricatures of humanity. 



But if we examine the monkey from an anatomical point 

 of view we find that it very closely resembles man in many 

 important particulars. In a previous chapter we noted the 

 distinguishing characteristics of the human skeleton, with 

 which it is interesting to compare the frame of the gorilla 

 in a walking attitude. Very often such comparison is 

 misleading, since the ape is depicted in an upright 

 attitude, a position that it adopts only with difficulty. 



Ignoring the tail, the animal possesses only a few more 

 bones than a man. The teeth, though usually the same in 



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