12f) ERECT ATTITUDE 



hand is required in the first years of life ; while the feet, at 

 the end of twelve months, begin to be employed in sustain- 

 ing the body, and advancing it by progressive motion. 



The lower limbs can be separated more widely in man than 

 in any animal, in consequence of the great breadth of the 

 pelvis, and length of the cervix femoris. Thus we are ena- 

 bled to derive the full advantage from those admirable instru- 

 ments of support, the feet; an advantage which may be esti- 

 mated by observing the varied motions, the rapid changes, 

 and multiplied combinations of movement, according to the 

 probable direction of the expected impulse, in boxing, 

 wrestling, and other similar feats of activity, in pushing, 

 pulling, &c. &c. 



In all the particulars j ust described, we see a strong con- 

 trast between man and the nearest or most anthropo-mor- 

 phous animals, even the monkey and orang-utang. In the 

 latter, the cervix femoris is short, the thigh-bone straight, 

 and its two condyles of equal length*. The foot rests on its 

 outer edge, the heel not touching the ground ; the tarsus is 

 contracted, and the digital phalanges lengthened, so that in 

 these respects It resembles a hand f. 



The peculiarities of the human pelvis coincide with those 

 of the lower limbs. The form of this part is very characte- 

 ristic In man, and distinguishes him from the slmlse, and 

 Indeed from all other mammalia. It might be asserted, that 

 the human skeleton alone has a proper pete; that is such 

 an incurvation of the sacrum and coccyx, and such an union 

 of them with the ossa innominata, as forms a 6asm-like 

 cavity; from which, the space included between the elonga- 

 ted ilia, and the straight sacrum and coccyx of monkeys, 

 differs toto coslo. In the orang-utang, and the elephant, 

 we find the nearest approach to the human formation. In the 

 former J, however, the upper part of the ilium is narrow 

 and elongated, stretching upwards in the direction of the 



* Tyson, tig. 5. 



+ (pMvres de Camper, pi. ii. fig. 5 & 6. Tyson Jig. cit. 

 X Camper, QLnvres, pi. ii. fig. T. Tyson, fig. 5. 



