gUADRUMANA. 



43 



ORDER II. 



QUADRUMANA *. 



Independently of the anatomical details which distinguish 

 it from Man, and which have been given, this family differs 

 from our species in a very remarkable way. All the animals 

 belonging to it, have the toes of the hind feet free and oppo- 

 sable to the others, and the toes are all as long and flexible as 

 fingers. In consequence of this, the whole species climb trees 

 with the greatest facility, while it is only with pain and 

 difficulty they can stand and walk upright, their foot then 

 resting on its outer edge only, and their narrow pelvis being 

 unfavourable to an equilibrium. They all have intestines 

 very similar to those of man ; the eyes directed forwards. 



The brain has three lobes on each side, the 

 posterior of which covers the cerebellum, and 

 the temporal fossae are separated from the 

 orbits by a bony partition. In every thing 

 else, however, they gradually lessen in resem- 

 blance to man, by assuming a muzzle more and 

 more elongated, a tail, and a gait more like that 

 of quadrupeds. Notwithstanding this, the 

 freedom of their arms and the complication of 



their hands allow them all to perform many of 



Interior of the head of a monkey. t\, . f n . .. . ,. 



J the actions of man as well as to imitate his 



gestures. 



They have long been divided into two genera, the Monkeys and the Lemurs, 

 which, by the multiplication of secondary forms, have now become two small 

 families, between which we must place a third genus, that of the Ouistitis, as 

 it is not conveniently referable either to the one or the other. 



SIMIA, Lin. 



The Monkeys are all quadrumana, which have four 

 straight incisors in each jaw, and flat nails on all the ex- 

 tremities ; two characters which approximate them more 

 nearly to Man than the subsequent genera: their molares 

 have also blunt tubercles like ours, and their food consists 

 chiefly of fruits. Their canine teeth, however, being 

 longer than the rest, supply them with weapons which we 

 do not possess, and which require a hollow in the oppo- 

 site jaw, to receive them when the mouth is closed. 



* Animals with four hands. 



