378 QUADRUMANA. 



cular themselves, but the hip-joint is secured by the ligamentum .teres; 

 so that they constitute organs of support and progression, which, aided 

 more or less by the arms, render the animal alert and active on the 

 ground. Besides, the soles of the feet are fairly applied to the ground, 

 the Chimpanzee being, in this respect, an exception to the Simiadse 

 generally, and especially to the Orang, which latter animal treads on the 

 outsides of its folded, narrow, hook-like feet. The breadth of these organs 

 in the Chimpanzee tends to render its footing stable ; indeed, in the form 

 of these parts (setting aside the opposableness of the thumb), but espe- 

 cially in the form of the hands, this animal is far more human-like than 

 the Orang ; and, therefore, far more capable of handling objects with 

 adroitness and precision. 



With respect to the construction of huts, recollecting the labours of 

 the Beaver, we might, perhaps, be disposed to regard that point as of 

 little importance in leading us to an estimate of the intelligence and 

 capabilities of the animal ; but, combining this with its more truly biped 

 mode of progression than is enjoyed by any mammal, excepting Man, with 

 its pre-eminently social habits, with its adoption of artificial weapons, 

 with its mode of putting its dead out of sight, added to what is 

 known positively of the habits of its race in captivity, we must ac- 

 cord to the Chimpanzee the highest rank, subordinate to Man, in the 

 scale of creation. 



Many points, however, it must be confessed, are yet desiderata, to be 

 obtained, ere we can give a complete history of the Chimpanzee. 



The period of gestation ; how frequently the female produces young ; 

 at what age the fulness of maturity is completed ; and the average length 

 of the animal's existence, are all problematical. 



In a young male Chimpanzee, of two feet in height, lately living in 

 the Gardens of the Zoological Society, London, the dentition corre- 

 sponded to that of our own species, from about the third to the seventh 

 year ; the incisors being f, the canines J, the molars J, all of which be- 

 longed to the deciduous series. 



This Chimpanzee was brought over to England in September, 1835, 

 having been procured on the Gambia coast, about 120 miles in the in- 

 terior. It was a nursling in the arms of its mother, who was shot by its 

 capturers. Her height is stated to have been four feet six inches. The 

 young individual, at the time of its capture, was supposed, by the 

 natives, to be about two years old ; hence, therefore, it is improbable 

 that the female should produce young oftener than once in two years ; a 

 mother may be surrounded by three or four young ones of different 

 ages, forming a family, which continue long together in company. We 

 learn that the Chimpanzees are usually seen in small troops, con- 

 sisting of two or three families ; and it is said that the females are 



