447 



are more definite and satisfactory, his discrimination merits not the less 

 praise. 



Notwithstanding the presence of a long, slender, but muscular tail, which 

 serves as a guide and balancer in their movements, the Semnopitheci 

 have that, in their general form, which cannot fail to remind us of the 

 Gibbons. As is the case in these latter animals, the contour of their body 

 is spare and slender, the head is small and round, and the face depressed ; 

 the callosities are small, when compared with those of the Cercopitheci 

 and Baboons ; and the limbs are thin and elongated, as are also the hands 

 and feet. In the Gibbons, however, the arms only are greatly elongated ; 

 and these far exceed, in length, the posterior extremities : in the Semno- 

 pithecus, on the contrary, the posterior limbs are well developed ; the 

 length of the femur being more than equal to that of the humerus, and 

 the length of the tibia fully equalling that of the radius ; so that the pos- 

 terior extremities, reversely to those of the Orangs and Gibbons, exceed 

 the anterior. 



The hands in the Semnopitheci are remarkable for their elongation 

 and narrowness, and for the almost rudimentary condition of the thumb, 

 which cannot be brought into action as an antagonist to the fingers. The 

 feet, also, are narrow and elongated ; but the thumb is stout and well 

 developed, its metatarsal bone equalling that of the first toe in length, 

 and far exceeding it in thickness ; while the whole thumb of the hand 

 scarcely passes beyond the basal joint of the first finger. 



The Semnopitheci are destitute of cheek-pouches ; but they have a 

 large largyngal sacculus, extending over the whole throat, and advancing 

 even below the clavicles : this sac communicates with the larynx, by 

 means of a single large aperture, capable of being closed by the broad 

 body of the os hyoides, drawn over it by means of a muscle extending 

 from the anterior apex of the os hyoides, down the central aspect of 

 the trachea, to the sternum : when drawn down, the os hyoides presses 

 upon the thyroid cartilage. 



The approach, in the form of the head of the Semnopitheci, to that of 

 the Gibbons has been noticed. The skull (fig. 277), varying in minor 

 details in each species (while, between the young and adult of the same 

 species the difference is even more decided), may be characterized, in 

 general terms, as round ; the orbits are large and squared, with an ab- 

 ruptly prominent superciliary ridge, and with boldly projecting margins ; 

 the interorbital space is broad, and the face depressed : the lower jaw, 

 however, is very deep, and the space for the masseter muscle consi- 

 derable ; while the chin recedes obliquely. 



The teeth, especially the molars, possess peculiar characters, as might 

 be expected from the structure of the stomach. The incisors are small, 

 but stout; the canines are very large, broad, and compressed; the posterior 



