444 MAN. 



ORDER BIMANES. 

 MAN. 



Foremost of the mammiferous division of the animal creation 

 stands MAN, constituting an Order apart in the class to which he 

 is zoologically related. 



The highest of the Quadrumana, as we have already seen, are 

 constructed to reside amid the trees of the forests, but are ill 

 adapted for treading on the ground, or for sustaining themselves 

 in an upright position. The foot of Man, on the contrary (a very 

 different instrument from the hinder hand of the most man-like 

 ape), is as admirably contrived for maintaining him in an erect 

 posture as the prehensile limbs of the monkey are for its life 

 among the branches. The sole of the human foot is broadly ex- 

 panded, to support the leg, placed vertically above it ; the heel is 

 cushioned beneath, so 'as to bear the whole weight of the body 

 without inconvenience ; the toes are short, possessing little flexi- 

 bility, and the great toe, the representative of the thumb, is placed 

 upon the same plane as the rest. A foot thus constructed, although 

 well suited for progression, is quite unserviceable as an instrument 

 of prehension, and, seeing that the hands of Man are equally 

 unadapted for walking, it follows that he is the only animal in 

 creation that can with propriety be called two-handed and two- 

 footed, bi-manous and bi-ped. Man, therefore, stands upon his feet 

 only, 



"Erect and tall," 



his hands and arms being left free for other purposes. The hands 

 of Man, moreover, which derive so many advantages from their 

 complete freedom, are equally remarkable for the perfection of 

 their structure. The thumb, proportionately longer than in any 

 quadrumanous animal, confers far greater facility in handling 

 small objects. The nails are so arranged as to support the or- 

 gans of touch without in any way interfering with the delicacy of 

 their perceptions, and thus the human hand becomes at once an 

 instrument of sense and a machine of matchless capabilities. 



A special attribute conferred upon Man, alone of all the mam- 

 miferous races, is his power of articulating sounds, and thus com- 

 municating with his fellows by a mode of all others the most 

 convenient ; and if we add to this the facility he has acquired of 

 recording by written characters the results of his experience, we 

 perceive at once the superiority of his condition. 



