74 THE HUMAN SPECIES 



To enter more thoroughly into the distinctions between 

 the human pelvis and that of the apes we cannot do better than 

 quote the definition of the same as formulated by Albrecht, 1 

 " Man alone possesses a fossa iliaca interna". 



In the apes the superficies iliaca interna is more or less 

 convex, the fossa interna in man being due to the pressure of 

 the intestines caused by the erect position. Similarly, in man 

 alone is the anterior section of the superficies iliaca externa 

 convex. 



Again, only man and not one of the apes possesses a spina 

 superior anterior ossis ilei projecting above the incisura inter- 

 spinalis anterior, and of all the Primates he has relatively 

 the smallest space between the superior and inferior anterior 

 spines. When we consider further that man possesses the 

 smallest space between the cornu posterius acetabuli and the 

 tuber ischii, and that the dorsal surface of the symphysis is con- 

 vex in man, and concave in all apes, we have sufficient proof 

 that the erect position of man has led to marked modifications 

 of the pelvis. 



To Ranke 2 we owe the formulation of still another dis- 

 tinction between the human and anthropoid skeletons, namely, 

 the relation of the trunk to the entire stature and to .the 

 length of the leg. Taking the stature at 100, the length of the 

 trunk is : - 



In the male gorilla . . . 50*40 

 chimpanzee . . . 44/80 

 orang-utan . . . 44'5O 

 pure negro . . . 36*98 



,, German . . . 36*27 



Hence in man the trunk is shorter than in the anthropoids. 



We may now consider the proportion of the trunk to the leg. 

 Taking again the stature at 100, we obtain the following figures: 

 A South German is to a gorilla as 1 346 : 69^2 



,, to a chimpanzee as 1346 : 78*5 



,, to an orang as 1346 : 78 



Hence in man the leg is longer than the trunk, in the anthro- 

 poids shorter. 



^Corr.-Blattf. Anthrop., etc., 1883, p. 100. 2 Ranke, loc. cit., ii., p. 7. 



