UNIMAI.S. 4H) 



ftonsidered how much is natural, and liow ihucIi lias been :k'- 

 quired in the savage schools of Benin and Angola. 



The animal next to these, and to be placed in the same cla-^s, 

 IS the APE, properly so called, or the pithekos of the ancients. 

 This is much less than the former, being not above a foot and a 

 half high, but walks erect, is without a tail, and is easily tamed. 



Of this kind also is the gibbon, so called by Euffon, or tlie 

 LONG-ARMEU APE, which is a very extraordinary and remarkable 

 creature.* It is of different sizes, being from four feet to two 



* The Gilibon, simia lar of Liuuneus, is d'stin!,''uished in common with l!io 

 other Gibbous by the enormous length of the anterior extremities. TiiH 

 arms, when the animal stands erect, very nearly touch the ground. Tht* 

 eyes are large and deeply seated — the nose is flat — and the ears not unlike 

 the human. There is a circle of gray hairs passing over the eyes, cheek><, 

 and under the lower jaw, which completely surrounds the visage and gives 

 a very singular appeai'ance to the animal. The h;iir also on the backs of 

 the hands and feet is gray, in all other parts of the animal it is black, as is 

 also the skin. The Gibbon has not been found exceeding foiu- feet in height. 



The disposition of this species is said to be gentle, its nuitions neitlu-r rudo 

 nor precipitate. It receives its food, which consists chiefly of fruits, al- 

 mouds, &c., without greediness and without impatience. It suffers nuich 

 from cold and from a low temperature, and seldom survives long removal 

 from its native country. The parts of t!ie East Indies in which it is most 

 commonly found, are the coasts of Coromaudel, the peninsula of Blalacca, 

 and the Molucca islands. It is jirobable also, that the Gibbon may be foiuid 

 in some of the less southern provinces of India, travellers having describoa 

 a>i animal called Fefe, found on the frontiers of China to «liich they attri- 

 iiute much of the characters peculiar to the simia lar. 



The ash-colonred Gibbon, or Wou-wou, differs little from the simia Utr, 

 except in colour. The arms are also said to be longer, and the posterior 

 callosities larger than those of the black Gibbon. 



There is also a species called the little Gibbon, which is about one-third 

 (ess than the great Gibbon, but it has precisely the same form and propor. 

 tions. The face is surroiuided with gray hairs, forming altogether a circle 

 different in shape from that of the larger species as apjiears by the figun'. 

 The top or crown of the head is blacker than the body. It has a small beard 

 and whiskers. 



Another species of the long-armed apes, is the Siamano. Tlie general 

 description of this Gibbon accords with that of the others of this snb-divi. 

 sion of the apes ; it seems therefore only necessary to advert to those par. 

 ticulars wherein it dift'ers from its congeners ; the most prominent of these 

 is probably, that the first and second fingers of the hinder extremities ara 

 united as far as the middle of the second phalanx ; the colour is black all 

 over, without the wliite circle about the face ; it ha.s two loose naked folds 

 of skin on the throat which are occa;5ionally inflated. The hair is long and 

 soft ; but the face is without any, as are also the breasts of the female. Tim 

 orbits of the eye are circular and remarkably proniiiieiit, and the caiJne 

 teeth are Ions;. 



