July 2, 1894.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



155 



affinity with man. In one respect the man-like apes stand 

 apart both from the human and the monkey type, namely, 

 in the great relative length of the arms as compared with 

 the legs, the disproportion being most strongly mirked in 

 the gibbons, which are actually able to walk in the 

 upright posture with their bent knuckles touching the 

 ground. 



So far, indeed, as their bodily structure is concerned, 

 the man-like apes seem undoubtedly more nearly related 

 to man than they are to the lower monkeys ; and they 

 constitute a family (Simiulce) by themselves, which may be 

 regarded as intermediate between the one {Circopithecidce), 

 including the lower monkeys, and that represented by 

 man himself. While at present, as we have said, the 

 "missing link'' between man and the apes is wanting, 

 extinct forms tend to connect the latter very closely with 

 the monkeys. For instance, a fossil ape (Ih-yopithecus) 

 fi'om the Miocene Tertiary strata of France has the bony 

 union between the two branches of the lower jaw much 

 longer than in any existing man-like ape, although it is 

 approached in this respect by the gorilla ; while from 

 the corresponding beds of Italy another extinct form 

 (Oreopitlu'cus) appears to be in great part intermediate 

 between the man-like apes and the lower monkeys. It 

 may be mentioned here that m the same strata in which 

 occur the remains of the dryopitliecuS are found flint 

 flakes which have been regarded as exhibiting signs of 

 artificial chipping, and the extinct ape in question has conse- 

 quently been credited with the production of these supposed 

 weapons. Although we have not seen these wonderful 

 flints, we confess ourselves to be as sceptical in regard to 

 their reputed manufacture as we are with respect to Prof. 

 Garnier's ability to understand " ape-language." 



The present distribution of the anthropoid apes clearly 

 points to the existing species being the last survivors of a 

 group which was once widely spread over the Old World, 

 when warmer climatic conditions prevailed over what we 

 now call the temperate regions. The gorilla, for instance, 

 is confined to western equatorial Africa, where it is accom- 

 panied by the two species of chimpanzee, one of which ranges 

 eastwards across the continent as far as Uganda. 



The orangs, of which there are probably two species, on 

 the other hand, are confined to the great islands of Sumatra 

 and Borneo ; while the numerous species of gibbons have 

 a wide range in south-eastern Asia, attaining their 

 maximum development in the Malayan Archipelago and 

 the adjacent regipns. This distribution is remarkably 

 discontinuous, but the little that we at present know of 

 the past history of the group tends somewhat to consoli- 

 date the scattered distributional areas of the group. One 

 of the most noteworthy of such palaeontological discoveries 

 is the fact that a chimpanzee once inhabited northern 

 India : while it is most probable that au orang also 

 was a contemporaneous dweller in the same country. 

 This suggests that India may have been the original 

 home of the larger man-like apes ; from whence the 

 chimpanzees and gorillas migrated south-westwards to 

 equatorial Africa, while the orangs travelled in an easterly 

 direction to find a last home in the tropical islands to 

 which they are now confined. This probability, that India 

 was the home of the larger members of the group during 

 the later Pliocene period, further suggests that it is on 

 that country we should concentrate our hopes of discovering 

 the "missing link" ; and it is not a little noteworthy that, 

 so far as the very fragmentary specimen by which alone it 

 is known admits of our forming a judgment, the Indian 

 extinct chimpanzee appaars to have approached nearer to 

 the human type than do its living cousins. During the I 

 earlier Miocene epoch, as W3 have ssen, an extinct genus I 



of large man-like apes inhabited western Europe, which, 

 during the commencement of the Pliocene period, was 

 likewise the home of a species of gibbon. 



Of the four existing genera of the man-like apes, the 

 chimpanzees (Anthropopithecit-s) are clearly those which 

 come nearest to man, this being especially shown by the 

 shortness of the bony union between the two branches of 

 the lower jaw, the form and mode of arrangement of the 

 teeth (especially in the young), the relatively small 

 development of the tusks of the male, the absence of the 

 enormous bony crests on the skull so characteristic of the 

 gorilla, and the slight difi'erence in the size of the two 

 sexes. The specimen shown in Mr. Ranyard's photographs 

 is a female recently acquired by the Zoological Society, 

 whose amiable disposition and general intelligence promise 

 to make her almost as popular as the deceased " Sally." 



The chimpanzees and the gorilla alone resemble 

 man in having seventeen vertebrs between the neck and 

 the sacrum, and likewise in the absence of the central bone 

 in the wrist, although they difi'er in the comparatively 

 unimportant feature of possessing an additional pair of 

 ribs. In addition to the characters already mentioned, the 

 gorilla (iinriUa) differs from the chimpanzee in the more 

 oval contour of its brain, thereby approximating more 

 nearly to the human type. 



The reduction of the number of vertebras between the 

 neck and the sacrum to sixteen, together with the retention 

 of the central bone in the wrist, the great length of the 

 arms, which in the upright posture reach to the ankles, 

 and the peculiar upward prolongation of the vertex of the 

 skull, serve at once to show that the orangs {Simin) stand 

 on a lower evolutionary platform than either of the 

 preceding representatives of the family. Externally they 

 are further distinguished by the rudimentary condition of 

 the great toe, the peculiarly flattened form of the almost 

 disc-like leaden-hued face of the adult, and the red tinge of 

 the long and shaggy hair, the latter being in marked 

 contrast to the black hue of the gorilla and chimpanzees. 

 Although in possessing only a dozen pairs of ribs the 

 orangs differ from both the latter and resemble man, yet 

 this resemblance is greatly outweighed by the difference in 

 the number of the vertebra;. 



Agreeing with the orangs and the lower monkeys in the 

 presence of a central bone in the wrist, the gibbons 

 ( Ilylohatts) make a further approximation to the latter in 

 the retention of small naked callosities on the buttocks ; 

 while they are likewise distinguished by their small size, 

 and the inordinate length of their arms, which, as already 

 said, admit of the bent wrist being applied to the grotmd 

 when the animals are walking in the upright posture. 

 .\nother characteristic of the gibbons is the smooth 

 contour and relatively large size of the brain-case of the 

 skuU, which gives them a more human-like physiognomy 

 than the adults of their larger relatives ; this does not, 

 however, by any means imply that the brain-power of 

 these creatures is greater, but is merely due to the 

 circumstance that in any group of animals the relative 

 size of the brain is necessarily larger in the smaller forms. 

 In colour, gibbons are subject to considerable variation, 

 the Hainan species being uniformly black, Miiller's gibbon 

 brownish-black and grey, with a whitish circle round the 

 face ; while the silver gibbon takes its name from the 

 uniformly silver-grey hue of its pelage. Gibbons are the 

 only apes which habitually walk in the upright position, 

 and although they frequently aid themselves by applying 

 the hands to the ground, they often while walking clasp 

 them together at the back of the head. In addition to 

 this peculiarity, these creatures are remarkable for the 

 extrem3 agility of their movements, and their loud 



