BIMAMA. 



Without dwelling on these points, it remains to explain the differential 

 characters of Man, with a view to prove that the modifications of his struc- 

 ture involve consequences which draw as wide a line, zoologically consi- 

 dered, between him and the Quadrumana, as between the Quadrumana 

 and the Carnivora. 



It is scarcely necessary to repeat that, >to Man alone, of all animals, is 

 the erect attitude easy and natural; that the magnitude and position of 

 the cranium, the structure of the spinal column, the osseous and muscular 

 development of the pelvis and lower extremities, necessitate such an atti- 

 tude. One advantage gained by this arrangement is the freedom of the 

 superior extremities, the lower limbs being the sole organs of progression. 

 In the Orang and Chimpanzee, all four extremities are organs of loco- 

 motion. The Chimpanzee, it is true, can proceed on the ground, sup- 

 ported, or, rather, balanced, on the lower extremities, calling the superior 

 only occasionally into use, except in as far as they are needed to maintain 

 the equilibrium of the body : but Man walks with a free and vigorous 

 step, very unlike the vacillation of the tottering Chimpanzee, and with his 

 arms at liberty for action in any way that may be required. 



It is usual to designate the graspers, which terminate the anterior 

 limbs of the Simiae, as hands. If, by the term hands, it is implied that 

 they are equivalent to the hands of Man, then their claim to the appella- 

 tion must be denied. Mr. Ogilby observes, that the extremities of the Qua- 

 drumana, " instead of being mere organs of locomotion, execute the still 

 more important functions of prehension and manipulation." It is admitted 

 that the anterior hands of the Simiae are capable of grasping ; but not in 

 the same way as the hands of Man ; for in none of the Simiae is the thumb 

 of the anterior hand fairly opposable to the fingers.* Besides, the Ape 

 has these graspers -j- not only terminating the anterior extremities, but the 



combinaisons qui determinent rigoureusement la nature des divers mammiferes, ont donne lieu a dis- 

 tinguer les ordres suivants. Parmi les onguicules, le premier qui est en meme temps privilegi sous 

 tous les autres rapports, 1'Homme, a des mains aux extremites anterieures seulement ; ses extr6- 

 mites posterieures le soutiennent dans une situation verticale." Cuvier. If the. end of organization 

 be to provide instruments capable of duly administering to the instincts, or the intelligence, or the 

 necessities of animals, then must the organization of Man, which accords with the unique situation 

 in which he is placed in] the great plan of creation, with his intellectual superiority and moral en- 

 dowments (according to the " law of harmony"), elevate him, physiologically considered, no less than 

 metaphysically. 



* While the thumb of the human hand is at a degree and perfection of structural development, 

 which led Albinus to characterize it as the " manus parva majori adjutrix," the lesser hand the assist- 

 ant of the greater ; we invariably find its analogue in the fore-paws of the Monkey, not only compa- 

 ratively short, feeble, and unopposable, but manifesting a perpetual tendency to degenerate ; insomuch, 

 that, in the Semnopitheci it is merely rudimentary ; in the Colobi, it is reduced still farther, appearing 

 as a mere tubercle ; and such is also the case with the American genus Ateles. The paws of the 

 Marmozet Monkeys are squirrel-like : even in the anthropomorphous Gibbons, the analogue of the 

 thumb is on the same plane as the ringers, and is an adjunct to them ; not by way of antagonizing with 

 them, but by acting with them in the same direction. In short, as Sir Charles Bell observes, " these 

 paws are not, approximations to the hand, corresponding with a higher ingenuity, but are adaptations 

 of the feet to the branches on which the animals climb and walk." 



t It may be objected, that this restriction of the term, hands, to the organs of touch in Man, is 



