C 2 THE CHIMPANZEE. 



The apes have neither tails nor cheek-pouches ; organs which 

 are separately absent or nearly so in some baboons and monkeys, 

 but not absent together. Another very great distinction consists 

 in the peculiar circumstance of their arms being disproportion- 

 ately long in comparison with the legs j the arms of some species 

 being so long, indeed, that when standing upright they can 

 touch the ground with the fingers. 



They are most admirably adapted for a life among woods and 

 forests, and they climb and swing from tree to tree with asto- 

 nishing facility. 



In a state of nature they feed on wild fruits, bulbous roots, 

 small reptiles, insects, birds, and eggs ; but in confinement they 

 will eat cooked beef or mutton. In the latter state their 

 favourite beverage is milk or water 5 and though at first they 

 will reject wine or spirits, yet, like the savages of America and 

 Australia, they soon lay aside the habits of temperance and 

 learn to enjoy stimulating drinks. 



THE CHIMPANZEE, the most interesting species of ape, inha- 

 bits all the forests comprised between the banks of the Gambia, 

 in the north, the kingdom of Congo in the south, and extending 

 from the western coast of Africa. 



With the exception of man, the chimpanzee holds a higher 

 rank in the chain of creation than any other animal. Its bodily 

 conformation and its intellectual faculties fully entitle it to this 

 secondary station. In some points it resembles the orang-outan, 

 but it materially differs from it in organic structure, and in 

 various external characters. 



The average height of the full grown chimpanzee, when stand- 

 ing upright, is computed to be about four feet. The skull is 

 small and of an oval shape; its muzzle is slightly prominent; 

 its facial angle, when full-grown, is thirty-five degrees, being 

 five degrees less than in the orang-outan j its ears are large, 

 broad, and prominent j and its countenance has a less grave or 

 melancholy expression than that of the orang-outan. It differs 

 remarkably from the latter animal in having the round ligament 

 of the thigh-bone, which better adapts it for standing upright, 



