3ia PLEASANT WAYS IN SCIENCE. 



with wide-open nostrils ; the cheeks sunk under high cheek- 

 bones ; the chin almost rudimentary. " The hair over the 

 whole body is thick, long, and of a glossy black colour, 

 much closer on the shoulders, back, and limbs than on the 

 belly, which, particularly in the females, is nearly naked. 

 The ears are entirely concealed by the hair of the head ; 

 they are naked, and, like all the other naked parts, of a deep 

 black colour. Beneath the chin there is a large, bare sac, 

 of a lax and oily appearance, which is distended with air 

 when the animal cries, and in that state resembles an enormous 

 goitre. It is similar to that possessed by the orang-outang, 

 and undoubtedly assists in swelling the volume of the voice, 

 and producing those astounding cries which, according to 

 Duvancelle's account, maybe heard at the distance of several 

 miles." This, however, may be doubted, for M. Duvancelle 

 himself remarks of the wouwou, that, " though deprived of 

 the guttural sac so remarkable in the siamang, its cry is 

 very nearly the same ; so that it would appear that this organ 

 does not produce the effect of increasing the sound usually 

 attributed to it, or else that it must be replaced in the wou- 

 wou by some analogous formation." 



The habits of the siamang are interesting, especially in 

 their bearing on the relationship between the various orders 

 of anthropoid apes and man; for, though the gibbon is 

 unquestionably the lowest of the four orders of the anthro- 

 poid apes in intelligence, it possesses some characteristics 

 which bring it nearer to man (so far as they are concerned) 

 than any of its congeners. The chief authorities respecting 

 the ways of the siamang are the French naturalists Diard 

 and Duvancelle, and the late Sir Stamford Raffles. 



The siamangs generally assemble in large troops, 

 " conducted, it is said, by a chief, whom the Malays believe 

 to be invulnerable, probably because he is more agile, 

 powerful, and difficult to capture than the rest." "Thus 

 united," proceeds M. Duvancelle (in a letter addressed to 

 Cuvier), "the siamangs salute the rising and the setting sun 

 with the most terrific cries" (like sun-worshippers), "which 



