THE CHIMPANZEE. 21 



the body, and permits the skin to be seen between the hairs, but on the arms and other 

 parts it is sufficiently thick and long to hide the skin altogether. There is a small 

 beard on the chin and face, which has a Chinese kind of aspect about it. 



With very few exceptions, the nostrils of the Quadrumana are placed almost flat upon 

 the face, and are devoid of that projecting character which gives such expression to the 

 human countenance. Even in that very large-nosed animal, the Proboscis Monkey, the 

 nostrils are only oval orifices for the conveyance of air, and seem as devoid of charac- 

 ter as those of a wax doll. 



Just as man is the only being that possesses two hands and feet, so is he the only 

 inhabitant of earth who can lay claim to a nose. All the Mammalia have nostrils, and 

 some species are endowed with wonderful powers of scent, such as the dogs, the deer, 

 and others. Some of them carry a proboscis more or less elongated, such as the ele- 

 phants and the tapirs. Then there are some, such as those of the porcine group, which 

 possess snouts ; but not one of them has a nose. 



So in the Chimpanzee and its relatives, the muzzle projects exceedingly, and the 

 nostrils lie almost flatly upon the projecting mass. Herein lies one of the chief char- 

 acteristics of the simian countenance, which is not so conspicuous when the face is 

 viewed directly from the front, as when it is turned with the profile towards the obser- 

 ver. In front, the flattened and divergent nostrils, together with the projecting muzzle, 

 are not forced on the notice, and might escape a hasty observation ; but if the animal 

 turns its head, then the simian character shows itself in all its repulsive brutality. 



Even in the young Chimpanzee, this preponderance of the face and jaws over the brain- 

 skull is very considerable, and, as we have already seen, continues to increase as the 

 animal draws nearer to maturity. The accompanying sketch ex- 

 hibts the general characteristics of the Chimpanzee skull, and shows 

 how radically it differs from that of the human being. The distinc- 

 tion is even more clearly shown if the lower jaw be removed, and the 

 skull examined from below ; for then, the disproportion between the 

 animal and reflective parts shows itself most forcibly. SKULL OF THB CHIMP- 



In its native country, the Chimpanzee lives in a partly social state, ANZEH. 



and at night the united cries of the community fill the air with their reiterated yells. If 

 we may credit the reports given by the natives of Western Africa the Chimpanzees weave 

 huts for themselves, and take up their residence in these dwellings. Now it is a well- 

 known fact that the orang-outang, which comes next in our list, can rapidly frame a kind 

 of platform of interwoven branches, and so it is not beyond the bounds of credibility 

 that the Chimpanzee may perform a work of similar character. Only, the chief difference 

 between the customs of the two animals seem to be, that the one lives upon the structure 

 or roof, if it may so be called, and the other beneath it. Some travellers say, that although 

 the huts are actually inhabited, yet that only the females and young are permitted to 

 take possession of the interior, and that the male takes up his position on the 

 roof. 



The latter supposition derives more force from those habits of the Chimpanzees 

 with which we are acquainted, and which have induced naturalists to give to the entire 

 genus, the name of troglodytes. This term is compounded from two Greek words, 

 signifying a " diver into caverns," and was applied to this ape, because it seems to 

 prefer rocky and broken ground to the forest branches, which form the refuge of nearly 

 all quadrumanous animals. 



This compound word is not of modern invention ; for in the works of Aristotle, Pliny 

 and other writers on the subject of natural history, much mention is made of a race of 

 men who lived in rocky caverns, and who earned, by their burrowing habits, the title 

 above mentioned. The language and costume of these people were as barbarous as their 

 habitations, for the former characteristic was said to resemble the hissing of serpents, 

 rather than to bear any likeness to articulate speech, and in the latter accomplishment 

 they were totally deficient in the hotter months. It is possible that the Bushman tribes 

 may have given rise to these descriptions, which, indeed, would not be very erroneous 

 if they had been used in depicting the " Digger " Indians of the New World. 



Be this at is may, it is a remarkable fact that the Chimpanzees are groundlings, and 



