40 THE NOMENCLATURE 



one. The pithecos of the Greeks, and thejtmia 

 of the Latins, is a true ^pe, and was the lubjed: 

 upon which Ariilotle, Pliny, and Galen inlli- 

 tuted all the phyfical relations they difcovered 

 between that animal and man. But this ape, or 

 pigmy of the ancients, which fo ftrongly le- 

 fembles man in external ftrudure, and flill more 

 ftrongly in its internal organization, differs froni 

 him, however, by a quality, which, though rela- 

 tive in itfelf, is not the lefs effential. This qua- 

 lity is magnitude. The ftature of man, in ge- 

 neral, exceeds five feet; that of \.he pithecos, or 

 pigmy, never rifes above one fourth of this 

 height. Hence, if this ape had been ftill more 

 fimilar to man, the ancients would have been ju- 

 ftified for regarding it only as an homunailus, an 

 imperfcdl dwarf, a pigmy, capable of combating 

 with cranes ; while man knew how to t:\me the 

 elephant and conquer tlie lion. 



But, fwcQ. the difcovery of the fouthern re- 

 gions of Africa and India, we have found another 

 ape polfeffing this qu£\lity of magnitude; an ape 

 as tall and as flrong as man, and equally ardent 

 for women as for its own females; an ape who 

 knows how to bear arms, to attack his enemies 

 with ftones, and to defend himfelf with clubs, 

 Befides, lie refembles man ftill more than the 

 pigmy; for, independent of his having no tail, 

 of his flat face, of the refemblance of his arms, 

 hands, toes, and nails to ours, and of his walk- 

 ing conftanily on end, he has a kind of vifage 



with 



