OF APES. 65 



he performs no adion that is charadterlftic of 

 man. This imperfe<flion is perhaps owing to 

 want of education, or to an error in our judg- 

 ment. You compare, it may be faid, an ape in 

 the woods with a man in poHflied fociety. But, 

 in order to form a proper judgment ot them, a 

 favage man and an ape fliould be viewed toge- 

 ther ; for we have no juft idea of man in a pure 

 ftate of nature. The head covered with briftiy 

 hair, or with curled woo! ; the face veiled with 

 a long beard ; two crefcents of hairs ftil! groffer, 

 by their length and prominency, contratt the 

 front, and not only obfcure the eyes, but fink 

 and round them like thofe of the brutes ; the lips 

 thick and protruded ; the nofe flat ; the afpedt 

 wild and ftupid ; the ears, the body, and the 

 members covered with hair ; the breafts'of the 

 female long and flabby, and the {kin of her belly 

 hanging down as far as her knees ; the children 

 wallowing in filth, and crawling on their hands 

 and feet ; the father and mother fitting fquat on 

 their hams, both hideous, and befmeared with 

 corrupted greafe. This ftctch, drawn from a 

 favage Hottentot, is a flattering portrait ; for the 

 diftance between man in a pure ftate of nature 

 and a Hottentot, is greater than between a Hot- 

 tentot and us. But, if we want to compare the 

 ape to man, we mufl: add the relations of org.i- 

 nization, the conformities of temperament, the 

 vehement appetite of the males for the feniales, 

 the fame ftrudure of genitals in both fexes, tl^e 

 Vol. VIII. E periodic 



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