8S NATURAL HISTOET OF 



removed, or reduced to a size and form simply neces- 

 sary for animal purposes j the nose is confounded with 

 the upper jaw and lip, or, if more developed, is still 

 applied to offices connected with procuring food." In 

 the whole we have the muzzle, or snout of an animal, 

 not the countenance of a human being. 



The articulation of the head with the spine, which 

 determines its support, is, in the human subject, very 

 nearly in the centre ; and the vertical line of the 

 neck and trunk is nearly perpendicular, and would 

 pass through the top of the head ; consequently the 

 whole weight is sustained by the vertebral column. 

 In most animals, the great occipital hole, and the 

 articular condyles, are placed almost at the end of 

 the skull, throwing the whole weight of the head for- 

 wards, and it is incapable of being supported by the 

 vertebral column, without some very powerful assist- 

 ing machinery. Hence, we find the spinous processes 

 of the cervical vertebrae long, and assisted by a 

 very strong ligament, called the ligamentum nuchee, 

 or suspensorium colli. In the orang, the occipital 

 hole is placed twice as far from the jaws as from 

 the back of the head, which throws a great additional 

 weight forwards, and consequently requires more exer- 

 tion to maintain the erect position. But although we 

 find, according to Camper, that the spinous processes 

 of the cervical vertebrae are long, and see a greater 

 developement of them in the Batavian pongo, there is 

 no mention in any author of the presence of the sus- 



