GIBBONS. 57 



incisor teeth had been cut, the little creature, doubtless owing to improper food, had 

 not increased perceptibly in weight ; and soon after it sickened and died of a kind 

 of intermittent fever, to the great regret of its owner. 



The illustration on p. 55 shows some of the postures assumed by a young 

 oraiig formerly living in the Aquarium at Berlin. 



Under the head of the Chimpanzee we have already mentioned 

 that a fossil species of ape apparently referable to the same genus has 

 been found in the later Tertiary strata of Northern India. The same strata have 

 also yielded the broken tusk, or canine tooth, of another large ape, which there is 

 every reason to believe was a species of orang. If this be so, we shall be justified 

 in considering that India was the original home of the ancestors of all the large 

 Man-like Apes of the present day ; and that from this centre their descendants have 

 gradually dispersed to the eastward and south-westward. We thus have an easy 

 explanation of the present peculiar geographical distribution of the various groups 

 of large Man-like Apes now existing. 



In addition to these fossil Indian apes we have, moreover, sure evidence that 

 at an earlier part of the Tertiary Period, known as the Miocene Age, at least one 

 species of large Man-like Ape inhabited Western Europe. This extinct creature has 

 been named the Dryopithecus, and its remains have been found in France. It 

 appears to have been about the same size as the chimpanzee ; but differs from all 

 the living Man-like Apes in the great length of the bony union between the two 

 branches of the lower jaw. In this respect this ape, as we might have expected 

 would be the case, approaches decidedly towards the lower monkeys. 



THE GIBBONS. 

 Genus Hylobates. 



With the gibbons we come to the last of the Man-like Apes, distinguished from 

 those which we have hitherto considered, not only by their smaller size, lighter 

 build, and longer arms, but also by the presence of small naked callosities on the 

 buttocks, resembling those of the lower monkeys. They are, moreover, the only 

 apes accustomed to walk in an upright position, in which, as shown in the illustra- 

 tion on p. 55, they are at times assisted by their long arms, although they can walk 

 perfctly well with their hands clasped behind the neck. 



Characteristics ^k e gibbons, or long-armed apes, comprise several species found 



in the warmer regions of South-Eastern Asia, and more especially in 

 and around the Malay Peninsula. The largest of all the species only slightly 

 exceeds 3 feet in height, while the others are not more than about 30 inches. 

 Their arms are so long that they reach to the ankle, so that these animals can 

 actually walk upright and at the same time touch the ground with their fingers. 

 The head is well-shaped, without the upward prolongation of the crown that is 

 so characteristic of the orang; and the lower jaw is remarkable for the great 

 development of the chin, which is more human-like than that of any other ape. 

 Moreover, from the absence of prominent ridges and crests, and the nearly 



