SIMIAD^E. 393 



be here noticed, that a pair of the hinder hands of an Orang, said to have 

 been brought from Borneo, in 1821, have been found to measure, in 

 length, fifteen inches and a quarter : these parts are described by Dr. 

 Harwood, in the Linn. Trans, vol. xv. ; and the absence of the nail of the 

 thumbs is particularly alluded to. If, then, the Ramboom Orang, described 

 by Dr. Abel, with hinder hands of fourteen inches, was seven feet high, 

 the individual from which these, measuring fifteen inches and a quarter, 

 were obtained, must have been still larger. It may, however, be con- 

 cluded, that some mistake respecting the stature of the Ramboom indi- 

 vidual must have taken place.* It cannot be denied, however, that the 

 Orang varies in size. Dr. Solomon Muller, after an absence from Europe 

 of fourteen years, spent in India and the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, 

 has lately returned to Germany, bringing home, among other valuable 

 acquisitions, several specimens of Bornean Orangs, none of which at all 

 equal the Sumatran specimen, as described by Dr. Abel ; though one, which 

 he procured, also, from Borneo, is of comparatively large admeasure- 

 ments. M. Temminck, in his Monograph of the genus recently published 

 (Monog. de Mamm. p. 119, 1835), says, " Our travellers inform us, by let- 

 ters from Banjarmasing (in the island of Borneo), that they have recently 

 procured others, of five feet three inches in height," French measure ; five 

 feet nine inches, English ; whereas the largest described by Temminck 

 (a male), is but four feet, French measure ; four feet four inches and three 

 quarters, English. A second male, but smaller, he adds, " has been 

 given to the Museum of Paris ;" it is the same which the Author exa- 

 mined when at Paris, and it stands three feet eight inches. To what 

 these variations in size, among the Orangs confessedly from Borneo, are 

 to be attributed ; at what period of existence they are thoroughly mature ; 

 or whether, as with the human race, a difference of stature be permitted 

 to the species, within certain limits, are points yet to be ascertained. One 

 fact, however, seems clear, namely, that the Bornean and the Sumatran 

 animals attain to a similar magnitude. 



The following descriptions were taken from various specimens which 

 the Author has personally examined. 



1 . Characters of an adult, or nearly adult, male, from Borneo, in the 

 Paris Museum, which has been previously mentioned. The head is 

 large ; the forehead naked, retiring, and flat : large fleshy callosities, in the 

 form of elevated and somewhat crescentic ridges, occupy the malar bones, 



* The span of the arms was eight feet two inches, and the chest was " broad and expanded;" and 

 the skin, from the top of the shoulder to the part where the ankle was removed, measured, according 

 to Dr. Abel, five feet ten inches. Now, as the fingers of the Orang reach to the ankle, it is evident 

 that the total length of each superior extremity must have measured as much, or nearly so : then, to 

 this, let one foot six inches be added, as the presumed breadth of the chest (an admeasurement too little), 

 and we shall find the span of the arms to be between twelve and thirteen feet, instead of eight feet two 

 inches ; so that the very statements given evidently contradict each other, and prove the fallacy of the 

 assertion as to the animal's stature. 

 VOL. I. 3E 



