PARENT AND OFFSPRING 191 



and it takes, as a rule, a few years for them to reach 

 maturity; in this respect they resemble the human 

 child. The number of offspring is hardly ever more 

 than one a year, and the higher apes have even more 

 than a year's interval between the successive births. 

 The teats of the female monkey are situated on the 

 breast, just as in the human female; the little ones 

 are therefore held to the breasts of the mother in 

 almost human fashion. In the lemurs, however, the 

 young one lies across the mother's abdomen and 

 curls its tail around her loins. When the young 

 monkey is old enough, it climbs upon its mother's 

 back, and is borne there for many months. The 

 monkeys bring up their young with tenderness and 

 care, fondling them and showing every sign of great 

 affection, almost like human beings. The mothers 

 also keep them clean, grooming them and freeing 

 them from parasites. There seems to be some doubt 

 as to the parental care bestowed by the male upon 

 his offspring, but it is known that both male and 

 female defend the young with the utmost bravery. 

 It has also been asserted that the male orang makes 

 a staging of boughs and leaves for the female to sit 

 on and suckle her young, while he watches over their 

 safety from another similar resting-place. The 

 family group of the highest species, the gorilla, con- 

 sists of both parents and one or two young of different 

 ages, the elder being sometimes as much as six years 

 old. This shows how long the care of the young lasts 

 in the higher apes, and how closely it approaches the 

 parental care in man. 



