462 BIOLOGY. 



2806. It is not, as has been imagined, the hands, as 

 hands, which confer nobility upon our species, for by their 

 means an essential half of the animality, or the power of 

 locomotion, is lost ; but it is the preservation of all pos- 

 sible functions in an animal, and in such a manner that 

 each stands upon its highest grade of perfection. The 

 highest perfection cannot, however, be attained where two 

 functions are attached to one organ. Should both hands 

 and feet exercise the sense of touch, the motion is im- 

 paired; should both move the body, then the sense 

 suffers. 



2807. The four hands of the Apes are therefore an 

 imperfection, which we have no need to envy them. 

 They can, properly speaking, only climb and grasp with 

 them, but not run. Each gait of theirs becomes there- 

 fore ungainly, the horizontal as well as the upright or 

 perpendicular, and they make use of both alternately ; 

 because too the act of handling, i. e. of climbing, is their 

 only proper movement. Now, in the act of climbing all 

 the limbs are brought into requisition, and consequently 

 a free voluntary touch and a free progression disappear. 



2808. The feet support the body and stand in its 

 service. 



2809. The hands are, on the contrary, supported by 

 the body, are free. 



2810. The wings also support the body. 



2811. Feet and hands define man. Through the two 

 only does he become free. 



Tegumenial Covering. 



2812. The skin, as being originally a branchia, is pro- 

 vided also with its branchial operculum. This is the 

 epidermis. 



2813. Scales are plications or folds of the epidermis, 

 which accord with the situation of the branchial vessels ; 

 they are therefore arranged generally in a circular form 

 around the body, and are more definitely varied upon 

 the dorsal than ventral aspect of the body. Large scales, 

 or those which may be regarded as formed by the conflu- 

 ence of several scales, are called scutes. 



