THE GORILLA. 



the slight resemblance to the human countenance, which the full form exhibits. As in 

 the Chimpanzee, an ape which is placed in the same genus with the Gorilla, the color 

 of the hair is nearly black ; but in some lights, and during the life of the animal, it 

 assumes a lighter tinge of grayish brown, on account of the admixture of variously 

 colored hairs. On the top of the head, and the side of the cheeks, it assumes a grizzly 

 hue. The length of the hair is not very great, considering the size of the animal, and 

 is not more than two or three inches in length. On the arms it is arranged in a rather 

 curious manner, the hair from the shoulder to the elbow points downwards, while that 

 from the elbow to the fingers points upwards, so that the two sets of hairs meet at the 

 elbow, and make a pendant tuft. A similar structure is found in other large apes, but 

 the object of so curious a disposition is not yet known. One reason for this arrange- 

 ment of the hair, may be that if their long hairs were to hang along the arm and wrist, 

 they would get into the hand, and interfere with the grasp, while by their reverted 

 growth such an embarrassment is removed. The color of the eye is dark brown, 

 glowing with a baleful emerald light, when the fierce passions are roused. 



It will be seen, on referring to the two engravings, which represent the skeleton of 

 this animal, and the living creature itself, that the paws of the four extremities are not 

 precisely alike in their development. On the two fore-paws, the fingers are enormous, 

 the thumbs being comparatively trifling in dimensions ; while the corresponding mem- 

 bers of the hinder paws are just reversed in their size. The figure of the Gorilla, on 

 p. 15, marks these peculiarities with great fidelity, and in the action of the creature 

 shows the reason for the extraordinary and gigantic thumbs of the hinder limbs. . 



As to the size of a full-grown Gorilla, accounts vary much. The specimen which is 

 best known in England is five feet six inches high, when placed erect. From shoulder 

 to shoulder it measures nearly three feet, while the body is only two feet four inches, 

 measured from the hip-joint. It is possible, however, that there may be much larger 

 individuals. Independent, however, of the impression made on the minds of the 

 spectators by the sight of an infuriated animal, it is a fact that the feeling of anger 

 does dilate the form, whether of man or beast. And as one effect of anger is to cause 

 the hair to bristle up (as indeed is seen familiarly in dogs, cats, and other animals), 

 the ape while under the influence of that fiery rage to which these animals are so sub- 

 ject, would in reality present a larger outline than if it were calmly engaged in its usual 

 pursuits. Six, or even seven feet of height, have been attributed to these creatures. 

 But it must be remembered that a wild, fierce animal always looks very much larger 

 when living and in motion, than when lying dead and still on the ground, or even "set 

 up " in a museum, with glass eyes, and straw-distended skin. Elephants of sixteen feet 

 high, have shrunk to eleven and ten feet under the application of the measuring rod, 

 and it is proverbial among anglers, that the fish which they do not catch, are finer 

 and heavier than those which they can subject to scales and foot-measure. So it is 

 likely enough that a wild and savage Gorilla, with his fury-flashing eyes, his fierce 

 gestures, and enormous arms, would impress the mind of his opponent with an idea of 

 a very much larger animal. It is not only upon Gadshill that two men in buckram 

 multiply unto eleven. 



But granting that the Gorilla does not attain to any much greater height than five 

 feet, even then it is an animal much to be dreaded as an enemy, and capable of doing 

 vast mischief, if so inclined. But it is a most merciful provision, and one that 

 seems to be universal among creatures of such a stamp, that in proportion as their 

 bodily powers increase, their mental powers degenerate. The larger apes are, in their 

 period of childhood, so to speak, teachable and tolerably docile ; while when they at- 

 tain to years of maturity, the animal attributes assume strength, gradually gain dominion 

 over the mental, until at last the reasoning capacities seem to degenerate into a mere 

 contracted cunning. 



It seems that this degeneration is intended to prevent the animal from passing be- 

 yond the bounds to which it is confined, and by the very laws of its being to prevent 

 it from using its vast strength for bad purposes. The ape evidently does not know 

 his strength, nor how terrible an enemy he could be, if he only knew how to use the 

 singular power and activity which he possesses. These huge apes seem to live apart 



