MAMMALIA QUADRUMANA* 53JJ 



have been termed Digitigrades. Then follow 

 the Plantigrade quadrupeds, such as the bear, 

 the badger, the hedgehog, and the mole, which 

 rest with the whole foot on the ground, and are 

 in consequence able to make great use of their 

 fore paws. These conduct us to the family of 

 the Quadrumana, comprehending the Monkey 

 and the Lemur tribes, which are characterised 

 by having the inner toe quite distinct from the 

 others, like the human thumb, and which appear, 

 therefore, as if they had four hands. 



The Quadrumana present the nearest approxi- 

 mation to the human structure : they are natu- 

 rally inhabitants of the forest, and their confor- 

 mation is adapted to the actions of climbing upon 

 trees, of grasping the branches, and of springing 

 from the one to the other, with precision and 

 agility. It is here that they are at home ; it is 

 here that they gather the food which is most suited 

 to their nature ; it is here that they engage in suc- 

 cessful combats with serpents and other enemies ; 

 retaining their positions in perfect security on the 

 moving branches, or sportively swinging by 

 their extremities in the air. Both the feet and 

 the hands are formed for this species of prehen- 

 sion ; and many are further provided with a 

 strongly prehensile tail, which is an instrument 

 admirably adapted for all these purposes. Hence 

 the attitude most natural to these animals is 

 neither the horizontal one of quadrupeds, nor the 



