22 APES AND MONKEYS 



lower jaw. This, with the Neanderthal man and other fossil 

 human remains, tends to bring man down nearer to the apes. 

 It now remains for Africa completely to bridge the chasm by 

 revealing fossil remains of apes trending upward, well above 

 the living species of gorillas and chimpanzees. 



Place upon the shoulders of a gorilla the head of a chim- 

 panzee, and we would have — what? The Missing Link, no 

 less — a hairy, speechless man ! The man-apes we have. Let 

 those who seek the undiscovered ape-man search the Ter- 

 tiary deposits of the fertile uplands that lie between the gloomy 

 equatorial forests of the black apes and the Bushmen of South 

 Africa; for there, if anywhere, will the Missing Link be 

 found. 



The Gibbons. — From the three huge, coarsely formed, 

 and unwieldy manlike apes just described, the line of de- 

 scent drops abruptly and far. Their nearest relatives are the 

 Gibbons — creatures of small size, marked delicacy of form, no 

 weight or strength to speak of, but of marvellous agility in 

 the tree-tops. Their heads are small and round, their teeth 

 are weak, and their faces are like those of very tiny old men. 



Their arms and hands are of great length in proportion to 

 their body size, yet so very slender are their muscles that a 

 live Gibbon seems like a hairy skin drawn over a skeleton. 

 The largest specimen I measured in Borneo had the following 

 remarkable dimensions: head and body, 19 inches; extent of 

 outstretched arms and hands, 5 feet 1 inch; entire reach of 

 arms and legs from finger-tips to ends of toes, 5 feet 1 inch; 

 hand, 6 3^ inches long by 1 inch wide; weight, 103^ pounds. 



Of Gibbons there are about six species, and they inhabit 



