38 LECTURE II. 



common figures of these animals is, that the 

 artists represent the mouth as if furnished with 

 human lips. 



The Black Oran Otan, which, as before observed, 

 is a native of Africa, has been long ago very 

 elegantly figured in the celebrated work of Dr. 

 Tyson. It is somewhat less strikingly allied to 

 the human figure than the former animal, the face 

 being rather more prominent. Like the former, 

 it has hitherto been brought to Europe in a young 

 or unadvanced state, and its height has hardly 

 ever exceeded that of two feet ; but it appears 

 probable that both species at their full length may 

 arrive at a size not far inferior to the human sta- 

 ture, and indeed the black species, if we may rely 

 on the accounts of some travellers, has been known 

 to surpass that height. 



The manners of both these animals, in a state 

 of captivity, are gentle, and void of that disgusting 

 ferocity so remarkable in many of the large ani- 

 mals of the Genus Simia. Their imitations of 

 human actions, and the feats of dexterity for which 

 they have been celebrated, have been so often re- 

 peated in various works of natural history, that 

 they must be familiarly known to all persons of 





