4t)8 THE TROPICAL WORIJ). 



appearance as in their anatomical structure ; and form, as it 

 were, the caricature of man, both by their gestures and by 

 glimpses of a higher intelligence. 



Creatures so remarkably endowed have naturally at all times 

 attracted a great share of attention, for if even the lowest links 

 in the chain of animated beings lay claim to our interest, how 

 much more must this be the case with beings whose faculties 

 seem almost to raise them to the rank of our relations. Tlie 

 question how far this similarity extends has naturally given rise 

 to many acute investigations and been differently answered, 

 according as naturalists w^ere more or less inclined to depress 

 man to the level of the ape, or to widen the gulf between 

 them. The former, pointing to the brutality of the lowest 

 savages, would willingly make us believe that we are nothing 

 but an improved edition of the Uran, while the latter cite in 

 favour of their opinion, the incommensurable distance which 

 exists between even the most degiaded specimens of humanity 

 and the most perfect quadrumana. Man alone is capable of 

 continually progressive improvement ; in him alone each gene- 

 ration inherits the acquirements of its fathers, and transmits 

 the growing treasure to its sons, while the ape, like all other 

 animals, constantly remains at the same point. The lowest 

 savage knows how to make fire ; the ape, though he may have 

 seen the operation performed a thousand times, and have en- 

 joyed the genial warmth of the glowing embers, will never 

 learn the simple art. His hairy skin is a sufficient proof of his 

 low intellect, an infallible sign that as he never would be able 

 to provide himself with an artificial clothing. Nature was 

 obliged to protect him against the inclemencies of tlie cold 

 nights and the pouring rain. As man advances in age, his mind 

 acquires a greater depth and a wider range. In the ape, on 

 the contrary, signs of a livelier intelligence are only exhibited 

 during youth, and as the animal waxes in years, its physiognomy 

 acquires a more brutal expression ; its forehead recedes, its jaws 

 project, and instead of expanding to a higher perfection, its 

 mental faculties are evidently clouded by a premature decline. 

 Both in Africa and Asia, we find large anthropomorphous 

 apes, but while the Chimpanzee and the Grorilla exclusively ■ 

 belong to the African wilds, the Uran and the Gribbons are 

 confined to the torrid regions of South Asia. 



