140 NATURAL ATTITUDE AND 



with that of the fore and middle finger, a combination so 

 important in numerous delicate operations. 



It is rather singular, since persons have been found to con- 

 tend that man ought to go on all-fours, that there should have 

 been others who undertake to prove that the orang-utang, and 

 the monkey tribe in general, have an organization suited to 

 biped progression. Even Buffon states that one, which he 

 saw, always went on two feet; and he ascribes the erect atti- 

 tude to him without any hesitation. No doubt he can sustain 

 this posture for some time, and in the unnatural condition of 

 confinement he may frequently sit : hence, perhaps, we may 

 account for the numerous observations, in which he is said 

 to go erect. But the circumstances of structure already ex- 

 plained shew clearly that he is not calculated, like man, for 

 that attitude ; and we find, in some of the most authentic 

 accounts, that he is said to have gone on all-fours. Alla- 

 MAND^ who saw a simia satyrus in Holland, gives the fol- 

 lowing account of its motions and attitudes : " Its usual 

 attitude was sitting, with its thighs and knees raised : it 

 walked nearly in the same posture, its rump being very near 

 the ground. 1 never saw it perfectly upright, except when 

 it wished to reach something: and even then its knees were 

 always a little on the bend, and it tottered *." Vosmaer, 

 who has described the same individual, says, " This animal 

 generally walked on all-fours, like the other monkeys ; but 

 it could likewise walk erect on its hind feet, and, provided 

 with a stick, it would often support itself for a considerable 

 time. However, it never used its feet flat on the ground, 

 as a man would do, but bent backwards in such a manner, 

 that it supported itself on the external edge of its hind feet, 

 with the toes drawn inwards, which denotes a posture for 

 climbing trees f.'' The testimony of Camper concerning 

 one which lived for some time in the menagerie of the 

 Stadtholder at Petit Loo, is to the same effect : " L'orang 

 vivant courolt a quatre pattes, et lorsqu'il se tenoit debout, 

 (ce qu'il fit le plus dans les premiers tems de son arrivee et 

 lorsqu'il joulssoit encore de toute sa vigeur) il tenoit les 



* liui'FON, by Wood, v. 10. p. 79. f Ibid, p. 84;. 



