UPKIGHT WALK OP MAN. 



391 



Skull of the Orang-oetan. 



posing that, with a head formed and situated as at present, he 

 were to move upon all- 

 fours, his face would then 

 be brought into a plane 

 parallel with the ground, 

 and as painful an effort 

 be required to examine 

 with the eyes an object 

 placed in front of the 

 body, as is now necessary 

 to keep the eyes fixed on 

 the zenith. Then also the 

 nose would be almost inca- 

 pacitated for receiving any 

 other odorous emanations 

 than those proceeding from 

 the earth, or from the body 

 itself, and the mouth could not touch the ground without 

 bringing the forehead and chin also in contact with it. 



Though the apes are able to adapt the inclination of their 

 heads without much difficulty either to the horizontal or to 

 the erect posture, yet the natural position in the highest among 

 them is unquestionably one in which the spinal column is 

 inclined ; the body being partially thrown forward so as to rest 

 upon the anterior extremities, and in this position the face is 

 directed forwards without any effort. 



The different formation of the pelvis in man, and in the apes 

 likewise, shows that, as the former has been made for an upright 

 walk, so the latter are condemned by nature to a grovelling 

 position ; for while in man it is peculiarly broad, and curving 

 forwards and upwards, so as to give a wide basis of support to 

 the abdominal viscera, it is much longer and narrower in the 

 apes. The human foot is, in proportion to the size of the whole 

 body, much larger, broader, and stronger than that of the ape ; 

 its short stiff toes enable it to plant itself more firmly on the 

 ground, and its sole is concave ; so that the whole weight of the 

 body falls on the summit of an arch, of which the heel-bone 

 and the middle part of the foot anterior to the toes form the 

 two points of support. This arched form of the foot and the 

 habitual contact of the heel-bone with the ground are peculiar 



